Perseus Black and the Heir of Slytherin
by Perseus Potter-Black
Summary: We all know Harry's life story. But what if the prophecy fell on someone different? First in series. AlivePotters! WBWL! Pre-Hogwarts to 1st Year fic. ManipDumbles! First Story, Please Read and Review! Completed. Sequel up: Perseus Black and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey guys! As you can see this is my first story so be nice!**

**Uploading on Fanfiction is one of the most complicated things I've ever done, so if I mess something up, tell me! I'll try to post once or twice a week. Also, I'm American and I hope I correctly wrote the British slang. If not, tell me how to correctly please!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. But we all knew that. **

**Prologue**

_August 19, 1980_

A woman appeared onto the street with a resounding crack. People usually did not appear out of nowhere in the middle of London. That was because this particular person was not a normal person. She was a witch. Her name was Lily Potter. If there had been anyone to see her, they would have noticed that she was crying and extremely distressed. As her thunderous sobs echoed across the seemingly lifeless street, she made her way up the street to a spot just between 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place. For her, the houses separated leaving a huge manor in its place. She walked up to the door and knocked. After a few minutes of waiting the door opened to reveal a rather good-looking man. Sirius Black. Her husband's best friend.

"Sirius!", she yelled before pulling him into a tight hug as the tears began to fall again.

"Li…Lily," he stammered. "What are you doing here?" He asked surprised by her visit, especially in this state.

"Oh Siri, I just found out my parents died!" Lily wailed. "James is still on his mission for the order and you were the first one I thought of going to."

Quickly getting over his shock, Sirius was quick to invite her in. About an hour later with their thoughts clouded by alcohol, they found themselves in Sirius' bedroom.

_October 31, 1981_

He was here. The most feared dark lord for hundreds of years. Even Grindelwald paled in comparison to the shear evil of this man known as Voldemort.

James Potter was terrified. He knew he was going to die. He would fight to the bitter end to protect his wife and two sons. As he reached the door, it blew apart blasting him back. As he jumped up, he was hit by a light and knew no more.

Voldemort was in his element. He knew he had to move quickly before Dumbles and his pesky order got here. That's one of the reasons why he only sent stupefy at Potter, the other being that he was a powerful transfigurator and was a pureblood even if a blood traitor.

Without a second glance at Potter he rushed up the stairs. As he approached he heard the unmistakable sound of crying despite the muffling charm. One Bombarda charm later, the door was blown apart. The Dark Lord walked in to see the mudblood filth crying and begging on the floor. Any other time she would be taking the killing curse, but Voldemort was running out of time. Stupefy did its job again as the woman was knocked out. Voldemort then turned to the two Potter offspring.

"Well then now that they've been taken care of, let's talk business, "Voldemort lightly joked. In response the fifteen month old named Harry just cried. "Yes, cry! Your anguish feeds me!" Voldemort said.

"Let's start with the youngest over there," said Voldemort pointing his wand at Perseus the 7 month old. "Avada Kedavra!" The sickly green spell shot through the air and hit the small child right above his left eye. It seemed as though the curse was doing its job, until it turned around. Time seemed to slow down as the curse raced towards the Dark Lord. It hit and after a blinding flash of light, the feared Dark Lord was gone.

James Potter started to rouse. 'Strange to find myself in the floor' he thought and mentally shrugged, 'Probably got drunk with Siri again.' He turned over. He felt several pieces of rock and wood as they dug into him. Why would there be rubble on the ground? It rushed back to him. Voldemort! His eyes shot open as he jumped up. He rushed to the floo. He quickly threw floo powder into the fireplace and stuck his head in. "Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts" he yelled. Not a moment later he found himself staring at the Headmaster's Office. He would have dreaded being here 3 years ago. "Albus, Albus" he yelled out over and over. Eventually, the Headmaster arrived in his nightgown looking quite unhappy with the rude awakening.

Dumbledore put on his grandfatherly smile. "What can I do for you James my boy?"

"Voldemort's here! Hurry!" James said frantically and disconnected the floo.

Dumbledore quickly transfigured a more appropriate robe and rushed to the fireplace. Throwing in some floo powder and then jumping in the fireplace he yelled "Gryphon Den, Godric's Hollow!"

James waited with increasing anxiety for Dumbledore. He knew he could not face off against Voldemort himself. He hadn't heard any sounds from upstairs and he was scared of what he might find. After but a minute, although it felt like hours to James, Dumbledore stepped out of the floo.

"Come James, we must see the result." Dumbledore said. As he began the trek up the stairs, James could have sworn he heard a baby's cry. He didn't get his hopes up though. However, by the top of the stairs, the sound was unmistakable. As James rushed into the room, he saw a sight so wonderful he almost fainted. There was his wife, a little scratched up but overall well, tending to both of their children. On the floor lay the Dark Lord's robes in a heap. Behind James, Dumbledore smiled. 'The first part of the prophecy has come true.'

James rushed up to Lily and grabbed her in a huge hug. "Lily! I was so sure you were dead!" James said as he began to cry. Lily started crying as well.

After a few minutes, an impatient Dumbledore stepped forward and cleared his throat. "We must move on to more important things," "What happened?"

Both James and Lily filled in their parts of the story. "I see," said Dumbledore. He looked around the room. He noticed Perseus had some blood coming off a scar that looked suspiciously like a lightning bolt. He thought nothing of it. His wandering eyes made their way over to Harry, which Dumbledore had assumed would be the prophecy child. 'It gets boring always being right,' he thought. He saw the cut on Harry's hand that was obviously a curse scar.

After Dumbledore had told them the prophecy, although still reluctant, they decided to go ahead with the plan. "Harry is going to need lots of love to fully fulfill the prophecy," Dumbledore said, "Therefore; I think we should send Perseus somewhere else where he won't be trying to divert Harry's much needed love."

Although hesitantly at first, they soon began to agree. "Perseus has always been a little slow I think," James said. "He rarely cries or makes any kind of attempt to pay attention to us." Though Lily was devastated that she would have to give up one of her sons, it was almost a life-saver. Perseus was looking more and more like…somebody else and that scared her quite a bit. At least this way she would have another 10 years or so before she would have to face the truth.

"Where would he go then, Albus?" asked James. After a moment of thought Dumbledore had the perfect place in mind. "You have a sister right Lily?"


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: There are a few things I forgot to mention last chapter.

I think it was obvious by the summary that Harry isn't the main character, but yea he isn't. He is like the secondary main character.

This will not be a slash.

And as you can tell I've put more classes in Hogwarts.

Lastly, relationships. Just going by my experiences, at 10/11 I was definitely thinking about girls. Just kissing and stuff so yea.

Chapter 1- Diagon Alley

August 2, 1991

Sirius Black, Hogwart's Offensive Magic's teacher, strode down Privet Drive. It was a rather plain looking street for all the houses were about the same. He was not here to enjoy the scenery or lack of however. He was here on a mission. To get his godson and find out why he had not replied to his Hogwarts letter. He stopped in front of Number 4. It looked extremely clean as if it were cleaned every day. Putting that out of his mind, he walked up to the door and knocked. As he waited, he heard obvious grumbling inside. Eventually the door opened revealing the fattest man Sirius had ever seen.

"Are you Vernon Dursley?" Sirius asked politely.

Vernon took one look at his robes and slammed the door yelling at the same time, "Go away freak we won't be having any of your kind in our home!"

Sirius was over his shock in moments. He pulled out his wand and said "Alohomora," unlocking the door. He walked in to see Vernon holding a muggle shotgun. Being the Offensive Magic's professor meant that he knew of muggle weapons, unlike most of the wizarding world.

"Expelliarmus," took care of that threat. The shotgun flew from Vernon's hands as he was thrown backwards. "Where is my godson Dursley?" Sirius snarled. All pleasantries went out the door with Vernon's greeting.

"Vernon what's all the noise in here?" asked a voice that could only be Petunia Dursley. She walked into the hallway to find a familiar man holding her husband at wand point. 'Wand point?' she thought. "Come to take your freakish boy away finally?" she said looking so hopeful that Sirius was disgusted.

"Where is he?" asked Sirius again. He was getting worried. If they were treating him this way…No. Dumbledore said he was checking on him.

"Freak! Get your bloody arse in here!" Vernon yelled.

The cupboard moved and opened. 'What could possibly be in there' Sirius thought. Out of there came a child. He was small, frail and quite sickly looking. Moving over to the child, taking note as he flinched back, he said, "Perseus?" The little child seemed to be confused.

"Who are you sir?" he asked timidly as if expecting to be attacked for asking a question. Turning to Vernon, Sirius growled, "You have a lot to explain Dursley!" Sirius turned back to the child and asked, "Are you Perseus?" Once again he looked confused before saying, "I think you have the wrong house sir. Only Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, Dudley and myself live here."

Sirius was baffled at first. "What is your name then?" Sirius asked. Vernon tried to interrupt, but before he said a word, Sirius cast a quick, "Silencio," shutting him up. Staring at Vernon before continuing, he said softly, "My name is freak sir."

The silence was all around. Dudley chose this moment to walk in and start kicking his mother to make the freak cook breakfast. Sirius saw the Dursley boy thinking, 'A spitting image of his father.'

While Sirius was staring open mouthed at the boy, which he now knew to be Perseus, he noticed something shocking. Instead of looking like James or even Lily, he looked exactly like…him. An exact replica of his former self, minus the emerald eyes. This made him think of that one time, but Perseus couldn't have been his. Could he? He was born in April, which was…9 months after that night in August! He decided to think more about it later. There were more important things to think about right now.

Sirius turned around and blasted Vernon into the wall. He then turned and blasted Petunia and Dudley into the kitchen. "How dare you hurt my godson!"

While the strange man used his stick to blast the Dursleys, Boy as he like to call himself, thought about what the man had called him. 'Was it possible he was talking to me? Surely not though. Freaks like me don't deserve names,' he thought sadly. It was however, one of his dreams to have a name. Working up his courage he tapped the man on the leg. "Sir, Do I really have a name?" he asked with hopeful eyes. The man looked down at him with a sad smile and said, "Yes your name is Perseus Romulus Potter and I was sent by your parents to take you to them."

Perseus was immediately confused. "My parents died in a car accident sir."

"Car accident! Dursley!" roared Sirius.

Vernon who had scrambled up after the onslaught yelled back, "We didn't want the freak to know he was a wizard! Besides a good beating or two ought to have fixed that freakishness!"

Sirius was livid now. How dare they treat a child like this while the other is overweight and spoiled! "Perseus, pack your stuff. We're leaving." Perseus quickly obliged and rushed into his cupboard to pack. He was done in all of 3 minutes. The Dursley males had waddled back into the kitchen followed by Petunia where they decided to celebrate with desserts for breakfast. Although it looked as though Dudley got desserts every morning. Sirius waited by the door for Perseus to come out.

Perseus grabbed his clothes, which were handed down from Dudley, and his books. Books were the only reason he lived for. They were his only friends. Perseus walked out and moved towards the strange man. They walked outside and down the street. Perseus could see the curtains move as the peeping neighbors looked at the strange man and the little boy, that caused so much trouble, walk down the street.

At the end of the street they turned into an alley. The man turned around and looked at him. "Okay Perseus, first we have to go to a place called Diagon Alley. To get there, we have to apparate. It will probably feel weird your first time though," he said. "Hold on tight."

Perseus put his arm through Sirius' and then they apparated away.

The trip in Diagon Alley was mostly uneventful. The place left Perseus awestruck but that was nothing when he found that his parents had left him a trust vault filled with enough gold to give Uncle Vernon a heart attack. Then they went to get some robes, a few potion supplies and a very nice trunk. Then they went to Flourish and Blotts. Rows upon rows of books! Perseus felt like he was in heaven until an impatient Sirius hurried him up. After that they went to get some ice cream.

Throughout the trip Perseus and the man talked. He found out the man's name was Sirius and that Perseus had a brother and a sister. He was extremely happy to learn his parents' names. He even learned about Hogwarts and the different houses. Something was bothering Sirius however but Perseus decided not to ask about it.

After the ice cream at Fortescue's, they went to Ollivander's Wand Shop. They walked in to a seemingly empty shop. Suddenly, Ollivander appeared from the corner. "I've been expecting you for quite some time now," he said in a voice that sent shivers down Perseus' spine. Perseus looked up at Sirius seeing a similar reaction from him. Ollivander seemed not to notice and continued on, "Your brother was in here just the other day getting his wand. His was a holly wood with a Phoenix feather core. Surprisingly his was the brother wand of Voldemort's. Of course him being the boy-who-lived that shouldn't surprise me too much." He droned on for a while about wands and such. While Perseus was fascinated with the information, Sirius was getting extremely bored and even grouchier. "Ollivander let's get on with it!" Sirius said finally losing his patience.

"Of course," said Ollivander who was looking a little peeved off at Sirius' tone. Two hours and hundreds of wands later, Ollivander was no closer to finding the correct wand. Ollivander seemed to be getting more and more excited by the wand. "That's all of the wands we have," said Ollivander.

A worried Perseus asked, "Does this mean I can't be a wizard? Will I have to go back to the Dursleys?"

"You will never have to go back there again Perseus. I promise you that," said Sirius. Turning to Ollivander, Sirius asked, "Surely you have more wands Ollivander?" "Unfortunately not," he said. "However I can make a custom wand if you follow me to back," he said walking off. Perseus quickly followed as well as Sirius. In the back, there were several tables with objects on them. Upon closer inspection, one table had various woods while the others had jars filled with all kinds of things.

"Put your hand over the woods first and you should feel your magic leading you to the wood that's right for you," said Ollivander. Perseus did as he was told. He began to feel the pull that Ollivander had explained. He came to a stop in front of a wood. Its description said it was oak wood. Ollivander looked surprised. "Are you sure Perseus?" he asked.

Perseus who was a little unsure of himself replied, "I think so but I could be wrong."

"If you think so, then we will definitely try it," said Ollivander, "Now let's move on to the cores. I'm interested to see which core you choose." "Yes sir," said Perseus. Moving over to the cores he chose Chimaera Scale. They left the shop 30 minutes later after watching Ollivander form the wand from the materials. Apparently, this wand was perfect for dueling and combat.

Their last stop was the Magical Menagerie. Almost immediately upon entering, Perseus got a feeling, much like when he was choosing his wand wood. He followed it to a cage with the most beautiful bird he had ever seen. Of course he hadn't seen a lot of birds but still.

"Hello, my name is Perseus," he said to the bird until he realized he probably looked insane talking to a bird. It wasn't until the bird talked back in his mind that he was truly startled. He knew he could talk to snakes from Aunt Petunia's garden, but he had never talked to a bird before. He was torn from his musings to hear the bird's voice once again in his mind, 'Excuse me, I just said I'm your familiar. I've been waiting quite a while for you! Bloody humans! They wouldn't pay attention even if there was a nice fat rat out in the open!' After a quick discussion about familiars with Sirius, they bought the bird, which turned out to be a peregrine falcon, a cage, and a month's worth of food.

After exiting the store, Perseus suddenly remembered a few questions he had forgotten in the shock of Diagon Alley. Although he had been taught to not speak unless spoken to, he really needed some answers. Plus, Sirius had been nice so far. "Sir?" Perseus asked. Looking down at Perseus' face reminded him of himself and also that they had one more thing to do in the alley. "What do you need Perseus?" Sirius asked. After a pause from Perseus who seemed to be having an inside battle with himself about asking his question, finally decided to ask, "Do all wizards go to a school before Hogwarts?"

Sirius seemed to be surprised at the question, "They are homeschooled before they go, unless they are Muggleborn or in some cases, half-bloods." This made Perseus feel slightly better. The Dursleys had not let him go to school for fear that he would harm their image in the community. He had to teach himself everything he knew while he was locked in his cupboard.

"Come along now Perseus. We have one more thing to do in Diagon Alley before we're done," said Sirius. Perseus quickly followed after him to Gringotts. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking, why are we going back to Gringotts?" asked Perseus. 'Such a polite child for the son of James...or me,' he thought humorously before answering. "I need to check something about you," Sirius said rather cryptically. This made Perseus a little nervous but followed Sirius up to the goblins.

"We would like to take an inheritance test for Perseus Potter please," said Sirius to the goblin. The goblin took its time before getting up to lead them to the inheritance department. When they arrived, the goblin opened the door. Ushering Sirius and I inside, he said, "Ripjaw, this is Perseus Potter and he wants his inheritance tested."

"Of course," Ripjaw said giving a toothy smile that made Perseus want to hide. He had Sirius with him so he'd be fine. Right?

As they both took their seats in front of the goblin, the goblin pulled out a roll of parchment. Handing over a knife and the parchment, the goblin told him to cut himself and bleed over the parchment. Perseus did as asked and watched fascinated as the cut healed itself. Ripjaw reached across the table and grabbed the parchment although Perseus saw words beginning to appear. After a moment of reading, the goblin looked up shocked. He passed the parchment to Sirius who looked just as shocked if not more. Finally, Sirius passed it to Perseus who was terrified that something was wrong. The parchment read like this:

Perseus Romulus Black (Potter)

Status- Pureblood

Son of Sirius Orion Black and Lily Potter nee Evans (adopted from House Grindelwald)

Heir to House Black (Paternal)

Heir to House Grindelwald (Maternal)

Natural Heir to House Gaunt (Maternal) (Contested)

Heir to House Slytherin (Maternal) (Contested)

Heir to House Ravenclaw (Paternal)

Magical Abilities:

Parseltongue (Maternal Blood)

Animagus (Paternal and Maternal Blood)

Natural Occulmens (Maternal Blood)

Natural Abilities:

Eidetic Memory

Above Average Reflexes

House Information:

Vaults

3 trust vaults equaling 900,000 galleons

Blood Feuds

House Malfoy and House Black

House Dumbledore and House Grindelwald

Vassal Houses

House of Lestrange (Black)

House of Fudge (Grindelwald)

House of Riddle (Gaunt)

Perseus was unsure of what most of the parchment was informing him of, but looking at the shocked faces of Sirius and Ripjaw, he figured it was important. "May I ask a question sir?" he asked warily. Uncle Vernon had beaten that into him long ago. Ripjaw affirmed with a nod. "What does it mean when it says contested and by whom?"

"It is contested by your brother, Harry Potter," said Ripjaw. "You see," he began, "When he vanquished the Dark Lord, Voldemort was Lord of the Gaunt and Slytherin families. This gave him rights to the heir ship of those houses even though you are the rightful heir."

"Does this mean I'm related to Voldemort?" asked a horrified Perseus. Sirius had told him about Voldemort on their trip through Diagon Alley.

The goblin smiled a vicious toothy smile, "He is your uncle." Sirius interrupted at this point with something akin to a squeak. "James will kill me!" This brought Perseus to another question, and one he deemed incredibly important. "Sirius, does your last name happen to be Black?"

Before Sirius could reply, Ripjaw cut in, "Look how much you two look alike." He transfigured a mirror out of one of the stray pens lying about on his desk. Perseus took a long look. At first, he could tell no difference, probably due to their different styled hair. Perseus assumed he had gotten his hair from his mother, for his hair was smooth while Sirius' was stringy, making him look like a certain pirate that Perseus had seen on a movie that he had been given the luxury of cleaning the living room while Dudley was watching the tele one time. Once he had got past the hair however, the similarities were vast. Apart from the emerald eyes and smooth hair, he could probably pass as a younger Sirius.

Sirius was getting anxious being surveyed by those eyes. The same eyes that Lily had. Eyes that seemed to search your very soul. Eyes that would constantly remind him of his greatest ever mistake.

"Well, thank you Ripjaw for an extraordinarily informational evening," Sirius said formally. Ripjaw just nodded and went back to whatever work he had been working on previously. Perseus followed his father down the long hallways, gruesomely decorated with depictions of bloody battles, to the front of the bank, and then to the apparation point. "Hold on to me…son," said Sirius. Smiling, Perseus took hold of his hand as they apparated away. He had a family.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- A Sirius Summer

August 2, 1991

Two people appeared inside the calm forest. The forest was rarely, if ever disturbed and the animals scattered like petals in the wind. The lush forest appealed to Perseus' senses. He had only been allowed outside to trim Aunt Petunia's garden as well as to mow the lawn. The surreal scene left him momentarily stunned.

Sirius was nearly shaking with fear to face his best friend. 'Soon to be former friend,' he thought grimly. Grabbing Perseus' hand, they headed towards a clearing in the forest. Since both were keyed into the wards, neither felt them passing the wards, or the immense power that they held.

James Potter felt two people cross the wards. They were both keyed into the wards so he thought none of it. Looking out the window, he saw Sirius leading an impossibly small child up the lawn. He was peeved that Sirius would play a prank on this day of all days. Sometimes, Sirius' childishness was a little much. The child Sirius had brought couldn't be more than 8. He quickly moved to the front door. He called out to the slowly approaching figures, "Sirius! This is not a good time for a prank!"

Reaching the Potter's front door, he said to James before passing, "We need to talk James. Me, you and Lily." Turning around he said to Perseus, "Stay outside Perseus." A rapidly growing confusion overtook James, but he followed inside obediently and closed the door.

Sirius walked into the living room to see Lily, Harry and Victoria Potter sitting on the couch. It was obvious Lily was tense. 'She knew,' he thought angrily. 'She never said a thing about it.' The Potter's living room was spacious and picturesque, parallel to most houses of ancient and noble families. "I suggest that the kids leave," Sirius said looking pointedly at Harry waiting for his inevitable challenge. Harry's eyes narrowed. 'Here it comes,' thought Sirius. The bespectacled green-eyed boy was a great kid and took his fame extremely well. He was well-mannered but he had his father's rebellious streak.

"Why can't we stay? I'm sure it concerns us as well," he said pointing to himself and his sister. Victoria's reaction was just what he expected. She quickly acquiesced and left the room. Victoria was usually extremely energetic, yet she remained rather cold until she got to know you. When she wasn't excited, she was calm and collected. Sirius was sure she was bipolar. After some urging from the adults, Harry also left though with a huff.

With the room empty of children, Sirius decided to get straight to business. He was sweating profusely, although he tried to keep his cool. "You knew didn't you?" he said looking at Lily who was sitting right next to James. She quickly dispatched herself from James' side in favor of pacing around the room. Gathering her courage, she turned to face both men looking straight into their eyes before saying, "He's always looked like you Sirius. How could I not?" They both turned to look at James who seemed to be working things out in his mind.

James was still confused. Who were they talking about? It came to him in that moment. That little boy whom Sirius had called Perseus. But he looked like Sirius and not his mother or himself. Lily had been so adamant that the child was his that he had begun to believe it himself. He had always thought that Perseus looked like Sirius, but he had been sure Lily would never cheat on him. And with his best friend of all people! Anger surged within him. Both Sirius and Lily saw the rage form in James' eyes. 'Queue the explosion,' thought Sirius.

"SIRIUS!" James yelled. "Why!?" After a moment of silence, James seemed to deflate. "What did I do Lily to run you into Sirius' arms? Did you no longer love me?"

Lily rushed forward with tears cascading down her face. "I'm so sorry James! It didn't mean anything I swear!" She paused to let out a sob. "Please James forgive me! It was just a drunken one night staaand!" she finished with a wail.

Sirius had been shocked at James reaction, but he was jarred from his shock by Lily's wails. "James I am so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like this." To say Sirius was surprised when the once fragile looking James turned towards him with hate filled eyes would be an understatement.

"How could you do this to me Sirius? You knew she was my wife! Get out of my sight Sirius before I do something I'll regret," he growled.

"I'm sorry sir," a voice came from by the door. Perseus stood there in the doorway and it looked as if he had been there a while.

A surprised James quickly lost his anger at the voice used by his apparent stepson. "Whatever for Perseus?" he asked.

"For destroying your friendship. If I had never been born this wouldn't have happened. Please forgive my father sir. I know what he did was unforgettable, but this would be a terrible way to end such a long friendship." Perseus answered.

The room was silent. Everybody was surprised at how sincere and heartfelt statement. That was until James rethought what Perseus had said. "Perseus. What did you mean when you said 'If you had never been born?' prodded James. Perseus visibly paled. "Well if I hadn't been born then your family and friendship would still be intact. I know it's my fault sir so please don't take it out on my father."

The whole room gaped.

The silence was broken by Sirius cries. He broke down. His own son who barely knew him was trying to blame his father's mistakes as his own.

Lily was disappointed. She didn't consider Perseus as her son, but it was obvious that he was emotionally, physically and mentally weak. He would probably turn out to be little more than a squib and if not that, as a useless Hufflepuff. At least Harry was brave and powerful. He deserved to be Grindelwald's rightful heir and not some sniveling wimp. She pretended to be a Gryffindor on the outside, but she knew she was a bona fide Slytherin at heart. She took the keep your enemies closer, to heart.

James was crying. His stepson was so caring that he would take the blame for another's fault. James was proud to have raised this child, even if for only a few months. Speaking of being raised, the boy was 10 and looked like he was 8. He looked emaciated and fragile enough to be broken by a fly. "I think your father and I can make a deal," he said. Perseus' face broke out in a wild grin that was admittedly contagious.

"Anyways, would you like something to eat Perseus? I didn't notice how late it was," James said with a smile.

"No thank you, sir."

The sirs were starting to bother James but he decided to go along with it for now. As Perseus left the room presumably to the kitchen, James turned to his once best friend and his wife glaring. "We are not finished with this. Only for fear of tainting the boy's innocence keeps your brains inside your head Black," he said eyes flaring. Sirius flinched and Lily burst into tears again. "I will give you a chance Black to restore our friendship, but you can forget about regaining my trust. That is shattered forever."

Sirius nodded his head in assent. The three of them made their way to the kitchen in silence.

Sirius awoke around the usual time. While he was a Hogwart's professor during the year at school, nothing could keep him from his love as an auror. He had worked out a way to still do auror duties over the summer. In a zombified state, he went into the bathroom to relieve himself. Following that was a shower. He continued to follow his regular morning schedule: Coffee, breakfast, read the Daily Prophet, brush teeth, get dressed. He was just about to floo to work when he stopped. He had a feeling all morning that he was forgetting something important. He sat down and closed his eyes straining to remember. Yesterday came crashing back. Perseus. He jumped up and ran up the stairs to the second room on the right. He burst inside to see Perseus jump up. "I'm sorry sir I don't remember getting into this room. Please don't be mad sir!" Perseus said close to tears.

Sirius was surprised. It took him a minute to realize Perseus was trembling. He was about to comment when he realized that he was late. Sirius dashed from the room to the fireplace. His lieutenant, Kingsley Shacklebolt, did not tolerate lateness even if it was just by a few minutes. Throwing in floo powder before sticking his head in, he yelled, "Falcon Platoon Command, Ministry of Magic!"

Kingsley Shacklebolt was assigning the day's duties to the platoon when the fireplace roared to life. Turning to the fireplace, he was greeted with the site of one his sergeants, Sirius Black. "Black!" roared Shacklebolt, "Why isn't your bloody arse here!?"

Sirius was quick to answer, "Sorry sir but I just found out I had a kid."

Kingsley laughed. "Black, that's the lamest excuse for missing work yet!" he said with mirth. It took him a moment to realize that Sirius was not partaking in his laughter. 'Black always laughs at his jokes' Kingsley thought. 'Surely he's not serious though?'

Sirius replied, "I know it's hard to believe sir but I do. I am also requesting leave for the rest of the summer."

"Surely you're not serious, Black?" said Kingsley before realizing his mistake.

Sirius smirked and said, "Actually sir I am Sirius Black." He laughed as the lieutenant rolled his eyes. "But in all seriousness I really am taking of work for the summer to get to know my son."

Though Kingsley was shocked, he asked what the whole platoon was thinking, which had been obediently silent during the exchange, "Who's your son Black?"

Sirius laughed again before answering, "He was formerly known as Perseus Potter." The statement sent waves of shock over the platoon.

"You screwed Potter's wife?" asked an astounded Degalus Diggle. "Uhh…Yea it's kind of a long story," said a blushing Sirius though his fellow aurors couldn't tell. "We don't have anything important today that can't wait till later, Black," said Shacklebolt eager for the story.

"I wouldn't want to take any more of your precious time," said Sirius. "Spit it out, Black," yelled several of the aurors. So Sirius got to tell his entire platoon the story of his greatest mistake. By the end of it half were rolling on the ground with laughter while the others glared at Sirius.

"How could you do that to your best friend, Black?" asked a disgusted Degalus. "Have you no shame?"

Sirius growled. "I don't have to explain myself to you Diggle. It was an accident and I'm ashamed of myself for my actions. So you can sod off, Diggle!"

"Get out of here Black and go parent your child of sin," he sneered.

Sirius disconnected the floo. Still in a rage he stormed up the stairs to Perseus' room. He had remained in the same spot throughout the entire hour of Sirius' absence. "Are you hungry?" he asked bluntly.

Perseus was sure that his father was mad at him. 'I've already messed up," he thought sadly. 'I've got to try harder to disguise my freakishness.' "I'm sorry father I didn't mean to go into the room," said Perseus. His father didn't even hear him. Perseus sighed sadly.

"Kreacher!" yelled Sirius. A small creature with a bulbous, snout-like nose, bloodshot eyes and white hair growing out of his bat-like ears appeared. "What does the blood-traitor master want?" the creature said with a sneer.

"I don't have time for this shit today Kreacher. Make some breakfast now!" Sirius yelled. Perseus cringed unnoticeably. Kreacher's face went almost purple in fury before he popped away. Perseus followed his father into the dining room. Sirius sat down at the head of the table as Kreacher reappeared with food as well as a cup of coffee and a cup of dark-orangish juice.

Perseus continued to stand unsure of what to do next. He ate all his meals in his cupboard at the Dursleys. Eventually, Sirius turned around to see his child standing behind his chair looking uncomfortable. "Sit down here Perseus," he said pointing to the chair beside him. Perseus quickly obliged complete with a mumbled, "Yes sir." As he sat down, a grumbling Kreacher placed the plate filled with eggs, sausage, fried beans and black pudding. Perseus quickly began to eat although he barely ate a third of the meal before he was full.

All through breakfast, Sirius had been watching his son and had noticed some serious problems. Perseus looked extremely undernourished. His clothes were basically rags. Emotionally, his son seemed to act strangely. He acted impeccably, doing nothing wrong and only speaking when spoken to. Sirius wasn't going to stand for this. He was the son and stepson of two of the Marauders.

"Perseus, go get ready we are going shopping today," said Sirius. Perseus looked up confused. "I thought we were finished shopping yesterday sir?"

"That's before I saw your clothes," Sirius said.

Perseus was ecstatic. "I get my own clothes sir?" he asked excitedly.

At first, Sirius was confused. 'He actually wants to shop? I was expecting him to whine about it…' he thought. Then he remembered the state of Perseus' clothes. 'The Dursleys probably just threw some of those whales' old clothes on him,' he thought angrily. He realized he hadn't answered Perseus' question. "Of course," he said smiling warmly.

Perseus broke out with a large smile and rushed out of the dining room. That was until he remembered he still had to do the dishes. He backpedaled back to the dining room. "Sorry about forgetting sir," he said as he made a move for the dishes. He stopped however when his father asked him curiously, "About what?"

He turned surprised to his father. "Umm…The dishes sir?"

"No need to worry about that Perseus. Kreacher will get them," Sirius said. Perseus looked confused for a moment before heading back to his room. Sirius thought little of the exchange.

Perseus had never been to a mall before, and he was fascinated at the sheer size of the mall. The fact that he could count on his fingers the amount of places he had been in his life just made the experience just that much more awesome. He had always gotten his clothes from Dudley and he had no clue what style he wanted or type of clothing he even wanted. His father turned out to not be much help on the subject as he just shrugged saying "Get whatever you want," and gave Perseus £10,000 before walking off. Perseus stared open mouthed at the money. He had never seen so much before!

Perseus stuffed the money in his pocket before wondering around the mall confused. He finally decided to just pick a random store. He walked into a store called Marks &amp; Spencer, which seemed to have quite a few customers. He had barely walked through the door before he was blocked by a lady no older than 25.

The lady looked at him furiously before roughly shoving him towards the door saying, "I'm sorry but you must be in the wrong place, the things here may be a bit out of your price range." Of course, Perseus had never been in a situation like this and was unsure of what to do. Fortunately, he saw Sirius happen to walk by and called out to him.

Sirius was extremely bored. There was absolutely nothing he needed, and he felt guilty for just leaving Perseus. He forgot sometimes that Perseus was not the same kid that he was and judging by the state of his clothes, he had never even stepped foot in a mall. Therefore, he started the search for his son. After 30 minutes, he was started to get worried. That was until he heard the cry of, "Dad!" It was unmistakably Perseus. Perseus was being manhandled out of Marks and Spencer. He rushed over to the woman. "What the hell are you doing? This is my son!" he raged.

The lady would almost refute the claim of a child molester trying to get an easy picking, until she saw the vast similarities between the man and child. "I'm incredibly sorry sir. I thought he was just a beggar," she said. She was quick to notice that was also the wrong thing to say because the man was barely holding in his anger. She knew she would have to work fast to lighten the situation and keep the customers. "I'll give you a 30% discount."

Thus, began what would become a 5 hour long shopping trip. When they walked out Perseus was dressed in his favorite suit, which was a navy tailored fit. He had bought 10 other suits much to his father's indignation. Sirius had to admit that they looked great on his son, but they couldn't be comfortable.

Although Sirius had not cared about the price, Perseus was horrified about it. His new wardrobe had cost over his limit of £10,000. His father had assured him that it was fine, so Perseus reluctantly put it out of his mind. After the shopping trip, they went for food. Both males were starving after 5 hours of relentless shopping and both settled for some delicious fish and chips. After what Perseus would call the best meal he had ever had, they apparated back to Grimmauld Place.

Upon entering the house, his father just randomly walked off. Perseus was confused at his father's behavior. He was used to being ignored, yet his father seemed to be warm with him sometimes while the rest of the time he acted cold. 'Talk about being bipolar,' thought a bemused Perseus. He began to wonder the house, taking note of things he had missed before. The colors seemed to all revolve around green and silver. While Perseus was not necessarily a clumsy person, he found himself tripping over what could after further examination only be an umbrella stand. A portrait near him suddenly came to life. "A FILTHY BLOOD-TRAITOR! QUIT DESECRATING THE HOUSE OF BLACK YOU MUGGLE-LOVER!

The portrait continued to hurl obscenities at Perseus. At the first yell, Perseus had jumped behind the umbrella stand and shook with fear. This went on for a few minutes before a voice filled with mirth said, "Enjoying your grandmother's company Perseus?"

"Is this your mother, father?" Perseus asked shocked.

"Yes. Lovely lady isn't she?" he said as he tugged the curtains closed. Mrs. Black's portrait yelling gradually died down. "Follow me Perseus," said Sirius. Perseus quickly obliged and followed Sirius to a door that had a plaque on it that said 'Lineage Room.' Inside was a relatively large room which included a tapestry and a bookshelf. The tapestry seemed to have various people on it. Perseus noticed both himself and Sirius on it at the very bottom. Sirius went over to the bookshelf and picked up an old book.

"This is our family history. It's important that you know this before school starts," said Sirius. For three hours Sirius explained the Black's history. The family was considered as a Dark family, but in the last few years, Sirius had worked hard to change people's notions. Perseus continued to learn about his family history from his father for a week. There was so much to cover as the Blacks had been around for over a millennium.

Throughout the studies they had gotten considerably closer. They had taken the time to learn more about the other. Perseus recognized his father's seemingly bipolar behavior, as not knowing how to raise a child. As nice as his father was, he was sure it was just a phase.

It just so happened that one morning when he was changing, that his father walked in. "Perseus I have to…" he stopped when he saw the scars that literally covered his son's body. "W…what happened to you?" It looked like he had been mauled by a wild animal.

Perseus was embarrassed. He didn't want his father to know all the bad things he had done while at the Dursley's. Perseus quickly threw on a shirt to try to cover his scars.

"They did this to you, didn't they?" It didn't take a genius to know whom his father was talking about. All Perseus could do was nod. The visible rage on his father's face made him cringe. "I'll kill the bastards!" said an infuriated Sirius. With that he stomped out of the room where Perseus stood still trembling.

"Bombarda!" The blasting charm blew open the door of Number 4 Privet Drive.

The impossibly fat man who came hobbling to the door screamed, "What in blazes!" was quickly silenced by a fist in his jaw.

"You're going to pay for what you did to my son DURSLEY!" said a still raging Sirius.

"You mean the Freak! We didn't" Vernon began.

"DEPULSO!" said Sirius as he banished Vernon into a room. This caused Petunia Dursley to run out into the hall. "Petrificus Totalus," cast Sirius calmly. He walked into the living room where the whale named Vernon had flown into. Dudley was so immersed in the TV that he hadn't even noticed Sirius yet. 'Bloody Pig,' thought Sirius. A rush of inspiration hit him in that moment.

3 transfiguration spells later and Sirius had made what he believed to be his greatest work. A whale, a giraffe and a pig in the Dursley's living room. Of course, the spell would only last 24 hours, but for the Dursleys, those 24 hours would be hell. "Teach you to touch my son again assholes!" he said grumbling. He turned around and walked out, leaving the abnormal scene behind.

It had been a few days since his father had stormed out of his room in a rage. He had come back after a few minutes with something akin to an evil smile on his face.

Since his first day of being introduced to the magical world, Perseus had been immersing himself in his studies. He was enamored with everything magical and wanted to learn it all. Sirius had told him that Grimmauld Place was cut off from the Ministry's detection spells, meaning that he could use his wand without the Ministry knowing. Perseus took full advantage of this. He found that he could do most spells easily after little practice. He had perfected Stupefy, Reducto and Diffindo and was currently working on the summoning charm, Accio. His father helped him sometimes although he could usually be found in the dueling room. Despite many times of his father trying to convince Perseus to duel him, Perseus was not idiotic enough to face his father with his limited training.

When Perseus wasn't doing his studies, he could be found working out. With the full meals and an exercise room, Perseus was rapidly getting into shape. He was ecstatic about it. He had always been embarrassed with himself because he could see his ribs poking out, but they were very nearly gone now. His father would run with him while he told stories of the Marauders. Naturally, Perseus was interested and excited when he learned that his father had a book about them. Apparently, the Marauders had become famous or rather infamous for their well-planned and thought out pranks. He decided that he was going to figure out who the Marauders were, as their well-executed pranks left no evidence.

His father continued to teach him of their family history, while his wisecracks and joking made the experience enjoyable. "And here's my cousin Bellatrix," said Sirius looking at a gaunt looking woman.

"What happened to all Blacks being beautiful!? She's deathly pale!" said a bewildered Perseus.

His father started laughing. "When you inbred so much, eventually not everyone is going to turn out beautiful, like myself," said a still grinning Sirius.

Perseus replied with a grin, "Sure dad. Whatever you say."

"We will have to get you your official Black name soon…" Sirius trailed off thinking to himself. "What do you mean, dad?" His father looked at him with a confused expression before realizing the break in communication. "All Blacks are named after constellations. It's a family tradition." Al

Sirius tried to help him, at least to a degree, with his confidence issue. Sirius eventually realized that he was making little headway with the near broken boy. So he taught him to make a front for everybody else to see, while he kept what he really felt inside. Perseus had done well and had a fake confidence now. Of course, he only saw it as pretending and though it was, Sirius knew it could very well save his arse one day. School was practically the most political place in the wizarding world. Parents were able to make lots of alliances through their kids. He felt terrible already for using Perseus like this, but that was just the way the system worked.

It had been 2 weeks since the day Sirius had picked up Perseus that the floo opened. Both Sirius and Perseus were in the room, with Sirius telling his son more adventures of the Marauders.

The man stepped out of the floo. On Perseus' first analysis of the man, he saw a dark-skinned man with a shaved head. His father turned and addressed the man, "Morning Captain! What can I do for you?"

The man looked at both of them though his eyes lingered on Perseus before saying, "Black, we've got several rogue hit wizards terrorizing Hogsmeade. I know you're on leave, but you've been personally called in by the Minister."

His father looked ready to protest, but instead he turned to Perseus and said, "Come on Perseus and I'll take you to your mum's."

In all the excitement spent with his father, he had practically forgotten he had a mother as well. He had seen her of course that first night, but he had never spoken to her. He followed Sirius obediently into the floo and held on as Sirius said, "Potter Manor!"

The floo opened, shooting its two passengers out. Perseus had always had great balance; therefore he landed on his feet. His father had a similar landing. Looking at Perseus, he smiled and said laughing, "Only a Black can land like that." Perseus smiled with him. He liked to be compared to his father.

"Sirius. What are you doing here?" asked a surprised James Potter. The entire Potter family was staring at them. Perseus was immediately shy. A girl that looked close to his age looked at them and promptly got up and went up the stairs. Nobody but Perseus seemed to give her a second glance.

"They've called in several squads to deal with a couple of rogue hit wizards. You're being called in as well. I told Queen that I was in my way here to drop off Perseus, so he told me to get you while I'm here," said a nervous Sirius. There was obvious tension in the air. It was broken by Harry's question. "You have a son, Sirius?" he asked bewildered.

"Yep, this is Perseus Black," said Sirius with maybe a little pride. At that moment, the floo opened. "Black! Potter! Get your bloody arses here now!" shouted a voice that was unmistakably their Captains.

"Bye Perseus. Have fun!" said his father as he ran to the floo. He was quickly followed by his stepfather who said similar words to his family.

Perseus turned to the Potter family. Harry came forward with his hand out and said, "I'm Harry Potter, heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter." Perseus' teachings kicked in and replied, "Nice to meet you Heir Potter. I'm Perseus Black, heir of the Ancient and Covert House of Black." He then turned to Lady Potter and said, "Thank you for letting me stay here, Lady Potter."

Lily was surprised at Perseus' change. He acted like an actual pureblood now. No doubt that Sirius had to have his perfect heir. "Well it's your house also Perseus," she said with a little reluctance.

Harry was opening the fridge to pour a glass of pumpkin juice. "How is it Perseus' house too, Mum?" he asked before gulping down the juice.

Lily knew this moment would come, but she had hoped to avoid for a while. Sighing sage said, "Because Perseus is my son." The result was instantaneous. Harry spewed his juice out all over the kitchen. "But he's obviously Sirius' son!" Harry said sputtering.

"You're not old enough to understand yet Harry," she said, "But it was a terrible mistake I made."

Perseus realized that his mother didn't really love him. To her he was just a mistake. Of course, he couldn't really blame her. He almost tore apart her family.

Harry could see the sadness in Perseus' eyes. That was a terrible thing for their mother to say, as it sounded as if she didn't love him. "Would you like to see my room then Perseus?" asked Harry as he tried to end the conversation. Perseus only nodded and followed Harry up the stairs. "Perseus is a mouthful. Do you mind if I call you something shorter?" Harry asked.

"I've never really thought about it," said Perseus. "But the idea is growing on me." They walked into Harry's bedroom which seemed much more normal than the overly extravagant rooms in his father's house. Everything in it was decorated in red and gold, including the floors and the desk. Harry sat on the bed, while Perseus decided to sit in the desk chair. Perseus continued to study the room. In the corner, lay a broomstick. At that moment, Harry shouted, "I've got it!" He smiled as he looked at Perseus who was looking at him curiously. "How about Percy?" Percy just shrugged and said, "That will work." On the inside, he was bubbling with happiness.

A ghost of a smile crossed Percy's face. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, his mind wondered back to the broomstick in the corner. His eyes followed his mind. He hadn't heard of broomsticks in his studies, nor did his father talk about it. Harry interrupted his thoughts by asking, "Do you want to take a ride on my broomstick?" At first, Percy wasn't paying attention and responded with, "What?" Harry misunderstood what Percy was thinking. He had lived alongside the likes of James Potter after all. Harry quickly said, "Not like that!", before bursting out in laughter. Percy didn't understand, but joined in anyways.

It took Percy a while to gather the courage to fly, as he was scared of heights, but he caught on rather quickly. Afterwards, they went inside for lunch while Harry told him of a game called Quidditch played on brooms. He found himself fascinated about Quidditch and vowed to learn more about it. In that moment, the girl he had seen walked into the dining room. She had red hair like his mother's and the brown eyes of his stepdad. She greeted Harry with a smile before turning to Percy and saying, "Victoria Potter at your service."

Percy responded the correct pureblood way, "Perseus Black, Madam Potter. I presume you are Heir Potter's sister?" He kissed her knuckles as he said this. She blushed prettily replying, "I am. I see Lord Black's looks have manifested into you."

Harry had seen how his sister fawned over their surrogate uncle and decided it was time to intervene. "Vic, he's our half-brother," said Harry with maybe a bit of teasing in his tone. It took all of 10 seconds before Victoria was out the door.

Percy looked at Harry with a confused look, and Harry just shrugged. Percy interrupted the silence by saying, "My dad has already told me three times not to try to understand girls." Both boys burst out in laughter.

About 5 hours later, their fathers returned joking around. Harry had been showing Percy a game called exploding snap. They hadn't seen their mother or Victoria for the rest of the day. Harry had explained that Potter Manor was huge, so if they didn't want to be found, they probably wouldn't be. Percy smiled when he saw his dad. "Hey dad," he greeted before turning back to the game. Harry greeted his dad with a subtle wave of his hand. The grown males continued with their bantering, just as the boys continued their game until the Potter women came out of their respective hiding spots.

"Black, do you want to stay for dinner?" asked James. Percy immediately turned and looked hopefully at his father. Sirius saw his son looking and winked before turning back to James, "As long as you let the elves do the cooking because last time you cooked it tasted worse than hippogriff shit!" Everyone laughed at that, though Lily chastised them for using foul language.

"So Perseus, did you have a good time at your mother's?" his father asked after they had arrived back at Grimmauld Place. Percy quickly dived into all the things he and Harry had done. His father seemed to be embarrassed about Quidditch, which Percy noticed. "What's wrong dad?" he asked curiously. His dad chuckled sheepishly before looking back at Percy. Percy was confused as that was not the response he was expecting. Other than anger, he had a hard time understanding other people's emotions.

It took a while before his father finally spoke. "I was never really good at Quidditch," he said. Percy didn't understand why he was so embarrassed about the subject, so he decided to let it drop. They sat in silence for a minute before his father said, "I'm going to bed. Don't stay up to late." His father and Harry's father had told of the battle between their squads and the hit wizards over dinner. While aurors focused more on smarts, hit wizards were the brawn of the Ministry. 7 of the 10 aurors who went in were wounded in the battle. It had been an exhausting battle and his father was obviously drained.

Percy had one more thing to ask him. It had been on his mind since this morning. "Um dad?" Sirius turned around to his son. "What's on your mind, Percy?" Percy didn't even notice his father calling him by his nickname. "How come my mum doesn't seem to like me much?" asked Percy. The question hit Sirius like a ton of bricks. He sat back down heavily. "What do you mean?" his father asked. Percy answered uncomfortably, "Well she said that I was her greatest mistake." Sirius felt a rush of rage but then thought guiltily, 'I've had the same thoughts.' His father stood and hugged him. Being the first hug he had ever received and that most of his human contact had been through beatings, he stiffened. His father broke contact and looked down into Percy's eyes. "Percy, you are absolutely not a mistake. It was what we did that night was a mistake." Upon finishing the sentence, his father left for bed.

Percy shrugged his shoulders at his father's abrupt leave and dove into his book on magical theory.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N- There was just one thing I needed to add to this chapter.**

**And also, I want to once a week or so give some of my favorite stories.**

**This week's one is Delicate.**

* * *

**Chapter 3- Friendly Encounters**

_August 31, 1991_

The days seemed to zoom by and much too soon it was August 31. Tomorrow, he would leave for Hogwarts. His father would be with him of course, but he would be on his own on the train. Well, not totally alone. He and Harry had been trading letters everyday since Percy had went to his house. Harry had promised to sit with him on the Hogwarts Express.

Percy was packed and ready for tomorrow. His father had told him of Hogwarts' massive library, so Percy decided he wouldn't need anything other than his school books. He went to bed absolutely sure that he had everything he needed. He was nervous and ended up checking to make sure several times that night.

Percy was dreaming of flying. He was on a broomstick and holding on to him from behind was a beautiful girl with flowing blonde hair and blue eyes the color of the sky. She leaned in and closed her eyes, her lips puckering up as she moved. Percy moved forward as well, and just as their lips were about to meet, she suddenly snickered in a masculine voice. Percy's eyes shot open. His body was already reacting to the ice cold water being poured on him. His mind caught up quickly and he jumped out of bed. He slept with his wand in his hand, and when he jumped he simultaneously yelled, "Depulso!" He got the desired affect as the man crashed through the wall behind him.

It took him a minute to realize the man was his father. He jumped up and ran to the next room. His father was lying on the floor still laughing. Percy started laughing as well. "We'll have to do that again sometime!" his father said eyes still dancing with mirth.

"Don't think you'll catch me like that again dad. I'm prepared now!" Percy said. They continued their family bantering throughout breakfast until the nervousness once again hit Percy. Percy did his daily routine and was ready by 10:30. His father had slouched around after breakfast and didn't arrive till 10:55. "Shit! If we don't hurry, you're going to miss the bloody train!" he yelled. Both of them dashed to the floo where his father threw in floo powder and dashed in quickly followed by Percy. "King's Cross Station!" and they were off.

* * *

When they arrived, there were very few people on the platform. His dad practically threw his trunk and his familiar's cage at him. Talon, which was what he had decided to name his falcon, squawked unhappily. Percy laughed at the obvious unhappiness on his familiar's face. 'Bloody human! You won't be laughing when my talons are slicing your face!' This just made Percy laugh harder. He climbed aboard the train and walked to one of the rear apartments. Harry promised to find him once the train had started to move.

Percy decided to pull out his Offensive Magics book as he waited. It was his favorite, for it explained the mechanics of dueling, as well as spells and their applications. It took 1 ½ hours for Harry to find him. The door opened and Percy looked up to see Harry walk in. "Hello Harry. What took you?" asked Percy.

Harry looked slightly annoyed for a bit before calming and saying, "You're sitting in the bloody back of the train! I had to check every compartment between the very front to the back!"

"Uhhm, sorry?" It was more of a question but Harry seemed to except it. Percy put his book away and the two sat across from each other awkwardly. "So did you…uh…have a good couple of weeks?" asked Percy. Harry face palmed and snickered. "That was fantastic, really. You want another go at that?" Percy joined in on the snickering.

"Since you're so great at conversing, why don't you try it then?" asked an amused Percy.

"Yes I am. Watch and learn from the master, Perseus," said Harry. "How are you, Perseus?"

"Never better," Percy replied.

"I can tell. You look rather dashing today Perseus, if I do say so myself." This prompted another round of giggles from the two.

They continued to joke until their compartment door slid open. "You haven't seen a toad have you?" asked a girl who stepped in. Harry seemed to stare at her for a moment before answering, "I don't believe we have." Percy nodded his head no. The girl sighed, and then stepped out. Percy suddenly had an idea. "Wait!" he said abruptly. The girl turned around and Percy asked, "Have you tried Accio yet?" The girl looked confused before nodding no. Percy pulled out his wand from his right trouser pocket. "Does this toad have a name?" he asked the girl. "Trevor," she replied. Pointing out his wand, Percy said, "Accio Trevor the toad!"

At first, Percy wasn't sure it would work. "Are you sure…" the girl began before a toad rocketed past her into Percy's lap. "Oh," was all she could say. The girl grabbed the toad rushed out the door, presumably to the toad's owner.

Percy sat back down and noticed Harry gawking at him. "What?" asked Percy. "Where did you learn that spell?" asked Harry. Percy responded, "It's the summoning charm. It isn't taught until 5th year I think, but I found it in one of my dad's books."

At that moment, the girl walked back into the compartment and asked, "May I sit here?" Harry quickly acquiesced and the girl sat down. Percy got a better look at her. She had curly brown hair that was extremely bushy. Her eyes were like little chocolate pools shimmering in the moonlight. Her skin was cream colored. Percy thought she was absolutely beautiful. Her buck teeth made her look even cuter if that was even possible. These thoughts scared Percy as the only females he had ever known were his aunt, and more recently his mother and Victoria.

"I'm Hermione Granger by the way," she said matter-of-factly. Percy mentally shook himself out of his stupor. "Perseus Black, Heir to the House of Black, at your service milady," said Percy as he kissed her knuckles. A crimson blush appeared on Hermione's face. Harry burst out laughing behind him, and Percy turned around quizzically. "What a schmoozer!" All three laughed at that before Harry introduced himself. "Harry Potter, Heir of the House of Potter. What a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Granger." He bowed as he said this.

Hermione was quick to ask, "Why do you say you are the 'Heir to the House' of your last name?" Percy was confused. 'Why wouldn't she know? Didn't everyone know?' Harry looked just as confused before asking, "Who are your parents?" Hermione answered proudly, "Jane and Robert Granger." It took Harry a minute of thinking before he began, "Are they muggles then?" This question seemed to offend Hermione. "Just because they don't have magic is no reason to bash them!" she said angrily. Harry quickly amended after a sorry, "Non-magical users then?" Hermione replied with, "Yes." Harry turned back to Percy. "That explains why she doesn't know. Muggles don't do that sort of thing," he said. "Well, I could've told you that, Harry!" Percy laughed.

Hermione looked at Perseus and asked, "You're not a muggleborn wizard are you?" Percy shook his head. "We're purebloods, but our mom was raised and is still thought to be a muggleborn," Percy explained. "Wait, you're brothers?" asked Hermione. "Only half," replied Harry and Hermione seemed confused. Harry sighed and told her our story.

Percy found himself reading as Harry continued to tell their story. He usually zoned out while he was reading, and this time was no different. After a few minutes, there was a commotion in the compartment. He heard a small conversation between Harry, Hermione and the stranger. The conversation ended with, "May I sit down then?" Harry affirmed and the girl sat beside him as Hermione sat beside Harry.

Percy looked up to look at the stranger. Her eyes were gleaming with a color of the sky whilst her beautiful blonde locks cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Percy couldn't help it, he gasped. The girl looked at him strangely, and Percy felt his face reddening. He mumbled an incoherent, "sorry?" The girl turned back to her book, and Harry burst out laughing. "So smooth Perce!"

Percy and Harry held a light conversation about Quidditch teams. Percy still wasn't that well versed in the sport, but could hold a slight discussion about it. Hermione had brought out a book when they had started to talk about Quidditch. It was obvious she didn't care much for the sport. He noticed the blonde girl tuning into their conversation when Harry spoke about Puddlemere United.

As their conversation came to a close, there was a knock on the door. Hermione, who was closest to the door, opened it and stepped back. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" The cart was stacked full of candy from Honeydukes Sweetshop. The lady seemed friendly enough to Percy.

He was just reaching into his pocket to grab some knuts, when Harry jumped up and moved to the doorway. "I want 3 chocolate frogs, a licorice wand and a cauldron cake, please." He paid and thanked the witch.

Daphne was the next one up. "I'd just like a cauldron cake, please." Percy wasn't terribly hungry, but he decided that he'd love to have a Mars Bars. He walked up to the trolley and noted with some confusion that they had no muggle candy. "Is there any muggle candy, ma'am?" Percy asked. The lady seemed a bit confused before asking, "Muggles have candy?" This provoked Hermione into angrily saying, "Wizards are such closed minded people. Of course we have candy!" Her rant continued about the way wizards treated muggles and muggleborns, though by that time the trolley lady had left.

Her rant peaked the blonde girl's attention, however. She laughed. Everyone looked at her incredulously. "What?" she asked innocently. "She's right of course. The wizarding world is lead by a bunch of spoiled pureblood assholes who think only of themselves." Harry laughed. "I couldn't have put it better myself, Greengrass!"

Harry and the girl that Harry called Greengrass began to devour their candy. Percy was to…until he realized that he had never ordered anything. "I never got my candy!" he whined. Hermione apologized, but Percy brushed her off saying it was fine. Luckily, Harry had gotten more than he wanted and shared with Percy. He offered some to Hermione, but she turned it down saying that she'd rather not hear her parents complain about her getting a cavity or something. Everyone gave her a confused look. She blushed involuntarily and said, "My parents are dentists."

Percy and Harry understood, but Daphne was confused. "What's a dentist?" she asked. Percy answered, "A dentist is a person qualified to treat the diseases and conditions that affect the teeth and gums."

Percy thought back to what Harry had called the girl. Greengrass was an old and influential family in the wizarding world. They had a seat on the Wizengamot. Percy put on his façade and said, "I don't think I properly introduced myself Mrs. Greengrass. I'm Perseus Black, Heir to the House of Black. It's a pleasure to meet you." Her face showed shock. "How could you be a Black?" She asked him. Percy smiled before replying, "Sirius Black is my father." All she could say was, "Oh!" An awkward silence followed.

Finally, she spoke, "I'm…" She was interrupted by the door opening and three boys stepped in. "Daphne Greengrass!" He continued for her. "What's a beauty like you sitting with company like this?" he asked while he looked over the occupants of the cabin though his eyes lingered in Percy.

"Perfect! The ferret decided to show up!" Harry said in sarcastic delight. This caused the blonde headed boy to turn towards him. "Ah, Pot-Head the blood traitor!" Harry stood up threateningly. The boy put up a hand as the other two unwanted occupants stepped forward. The boy walked up to Harry and said, "You think your so great Potter just because you defeated the Dark Lord. You're nothing special, Potter."

Percy was getting tired of this guys bullying. It reminded him of Dudley. The boy put his finger on Harry's chest as if to threaten him more, but Harry shoved him back. The blonde ponce's monkeys charged towards Harry. Percy jumped up, pulling out his wand and yelled, "Depulso!" All three boys were thrown out into the hall. Hermione quickly closed and locked the door.

They all burst out laughing. "Malfoy is such a dumb ass!" said Harry laughing. The others could only nod their heads in agreement they were laughing so hard. "Did you see his face when Black banished him into the hallway?" Daphne said. This caused another round of laughter in the compartment.

"What was that you used anyways Percy?" asked Hermione. It was obvious she had a thirst for knowledge. Percy was about to answer her, but Daphne beat him to it. "It's the banishing charm, Depulso. We'll learn it this year in Offensive Magics."

"Speaking of Offensive Magics, Is your father still the teacher, Percy?" Daphne asked. "Yes," replied Percy proudly.

This caused Percy to ponder more about his mother. He decided to ask Harry. "Harry, what does mum do?" Harry looked warily at Daphne, who was watching the developing conversation with interest, before sighing and saying, "She's the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts."

Hermione gave Percy a confused look. "You don't live with your mum?" Percy replied, "No, I live with my father." Daphne interrupted then, "Wait! You're brothers?" "Half," corrected Harry who looked a little embarrassed.

"While we're on the subject, my father is the transfiguration professor," said Harry. "You must know loads more about Hogwarts," said Hermione. "At least more than was in the handbook."

They were once again interrupted as a redhead wizard walked in. He sat down next to Harry. "Blimey! I heard they said Harry Potter was on the train and you really are! I thought my brothers were just taking the mickey out of me!"

"Can you show me your scar?" The redhead wizard asked hopefully. Harry sighed before showing his palm to the boy. "Wicked!" The boy said with delight.

Harry rolled his eyes and mouthed, "Fanboys." Percy had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. While the redheaded boy continued to talk, the rest of the compartment was packing their stuff. Every once in a while, Harry would say "Oh" to keep him talking. The redhead didn't even notice when they left the compartment and continued to talk to himself. They moved into a new compartment and burst out laughing. "Poor bloke wasn't all there, was he?" said a still laughing Percy.

They were still laughing when there was a knock on the door. "Not again!" Percy whined tired of the interruptions. He opened the door anyway to see another redheaded fellow who looked like an older version of the boy from their last compartment. "20 minutes till we arrive. Put on your robes!" Then he walked away. "Uptight fellow wasn't he?" Harry said.

The girls shooed them out of the compartment so they could change. "Why can't we all change together?" asked a confused Percy. Daphne smirked before replying, "We only just became friends, you guys. But if you want to see my knickers that bad…" Percy had practically jumped out of the compartment closely followed by Harry. "Girls," said Harry shaking his head.

Once they had all changed, there was little to do. Percy was starving, but he had lots of experience with that and put it out of his mind. "What's the time?" Harry asked. Hermione answered, "3:30." Time really does fly when you're having fun. The train began to slow to a stop. They realized then that their luggage was gone. Hermione was quick to explain that it would be magically transported to their dorms once they were sorted.

Percy stepped off the train first. If not for the thickness of the robe, with its many inner pockets of which he had no clue why there were so many, he was certain he would be far colder than he currently was. He loved the robes as they had the stylized emblem with its beautiful H front and center. A loud voice boomed not far from him. "Firs' years this way!"

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**A/N- Forgot to say this in the first chapter. When Voldie was casting AK on Percy, one of the tendrils of the curse hit Harry's hand. I'm not going to worry about it right now, but I'll change it eventually.**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N- So I forgot to mention some other things in Chapter 1.**

**I plan on at least trying to update every Monday and Friday. I can't promise anything because I have other obligations (mostly school).**

**Also, this is going to be a series. I hope to be finished with this part by at least April 10.**

**And also, while I liked the Philosopher's Stone, I hated the ending. So basically in this story it's going to be like the beginning of first year and the end of second year, with major changes of course.**

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Chapter 4- The Sorting

_September 1, 1991_

Percy thought that the castle of Hogwarts was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen. Massive was the best way to describe it. He and his new friends had all managed to find a boat together. Looking back, he saw nearly 200 boats all filled with excitedly chattering students. Suddenly, the giant man named Hagrid yelled, "Get down lest you want to sport a bruise!" The call came too late for Harry, who was standing up. They were apparently going under a bridge made of cobblestone. Harry turned around only to hit his head hard and pushed off the boat. Hermione snickered, but Percy and Daphne were much more vocal in their laughs. Harry climbed back in the boat and said glaring, "Bastards, the lot of ya!" It just made them laugh harder and Harry eventually joined in the laughter.

When the boats finally stopped, they found themselves in an underground harbor. One by one the small boats pulled up to a short dock and the students disembarked. As each boat was emptied it moved out of the way and further back into the cavern to make room for the next boat with its load of passengers waiting to disembark. Fortunately, they were in the first few boats, but Percy was sure that it this was going to take a long time. After they had disembarked, they lingered on the docks until Hagrid's deep voice boomed, "Just follow the path and it will lead you to the stairs by the boathouse. Proceed up the stairs and Headmistress McGonagall will meet you at the top." The landed students followed his orders and began moving up the steps.

It took them nearly 5 minutes to make it all the way up the steps. When they arrived, a witch stood in front of the huge front door, and Percy immediately recognized her as the Headmistress of Hogwarts. She had a stern look on her face and Percy made a mental note not to cross her.

More and more of their classmates joined the group in front of the doors. Finally, the last group, which included Hagrid, came up behind them. "Is this all?" she asked incredulously at Hagrid. "Tha's the lot of 'em," Hagrid replied shrugging. "Abou' six hundred, I suppose." "This is the least we've had in a decade!" said the Headmistress.

Percy was shocked by the number. '600 wizards and witches! And that's just in my year!' he thought surprised. He had read somewhere that there were approximately 10 million magical people in the world.

The Headmistress then turned to the crowd of students. "Good evening First Year students and welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall. In just a few moments we will enter the Great Hall and you will be sorted into your houses. The houses here at Hogwarts are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." The elderly professor's eyes swept through the crowd to ensure she had everyone's attentions.

"Your house will be like your family. You will sleep together, take classes together and spend time together in your respective common rooms. Your triumphs, academically as well as in Quidditch, will earn your House points," she told them as she clasped her hands before her waist and surveyed the youngsters before her. "The same goes for your failures as well. At the end of the year, the house with the most points, will win the House Cup."

"Now, wait here so I can go see if their ready for us," she told them before disappearing inside the castle.

It was a chilly night, and many students were shivering. To his right, Harry was shivering violently. He had gotten rather soaked after falling into the lake. The blonde headed kid and his cronies walked towards them. 'Great!' Percy thought. He was sure they were going to get into a row this time.

"Are you shivering with fear, Potter?" asked the unwanted guest. "Why would I be afraid of you, Malfoy?" Harry said with an admittedly terrifying sneer. A Malfoy! That explained his pompous attitude. The wealth of the Malfoy's was strutted around, so that people thought they were incredibly rich. In reality, while they were wealthy, they were not as much as the Potters or the Blacks, who were more subtle about their monies.

Then he realized they were cousins! Second cousins, but still closely related. Percy stepped in front of Malfoy before a fight started. "Who do you think you are? Get out of my face you filthy mudblood!" Malfoy said. Percy smirked. "You don't even recognize your own cousin, Malfoy?" Percy put on his pureblood façade and sighed, "I'm Perseus Black, Heir of House Black." "But I'm the heir!" Malfoy whined. "Riiight," said Percy who was barely holding back a smile. "I think you need to look over your homework, Malfoy. You seem to have forgotten that the son of the current Lord is the heir." Malfoy's face turned a shade of red before he stormed off.

Headmistress McGonagall arrived in that moment. "They are ready for you now," McGonagall informed them. "Once we're inside you will hear your name called. Please step forward to the stool and have a seat. I will place the Sorting hat upon your head and it will decide which House you're to be in. Once that is known you may step down and have a seat at your House's table. Are there any questions?" She paused for a long moment before continuing. "Very well then, please follow me," the Professor instructed them before turning and leading them to the door.

They were lead into the castle to the largest room Percy had ever seen. Inside were 4 massive tables that Percy surmised could seat 2,000 occupants each. It was a very long walk from the entrance to the front where a much smaller table sat horizontally, which was in contrast to the diagonal 4 tables. It was obviously the teacher's table. The students crowded to the front of the room.

Percy looked up and soon lost himself in the ceiling which was bewitched to appear as the sky above Hogwarts. The spectacular sight showed the night sky and the scattering sparkle of bright pinpoints of light that were the evening stars. Suddenly, everyone started clapping which startled Percy out of his reverie. "Great song, wasn't it?" Harry asked Percy then turned back around. 'Ah, so the hat did a song?' Percy pondered.

As soon as the clapping had ended, the Headmistress began calling off names. He heard someone with the last name Abbott go up and get sorted into Hufflepuff.

He was up quicker than he thought. "Perseus Black," the Headmistress looked quizzically at his father. Percy began his trek up to the stool. Percy noticed his father waving and waved back. He also saw his mother looking at him disinterestedly and it sent a pang through Percy's heart. Upon reaching the stool, Percy put the hat on and it covered his face to his nose.

His father had told him of the sorting, so he knew what to expect. _What an interesting mind you have, Percy. I can't say that I've quite seen one such as yours._ Percy was starting to get nervous. He didn't like telling people his secrets because they were so terrible. _Incredible! You would fit magnificently in every house!_ 'What do you mean' asked Percy. _You are loyal if only to your friends right now, but with the love of Hufflepuff House, you would surely become more open. The bravery within you is powerful as well. You're noble and extremely modest, even if you were forced to do these things to stay alive. The house of lions would suit you well._ Percy's blood ran cold. How could the hat know that? Could it have read his memories? _Slytherin would make you great as well. You might not be terribly ambitious, but you do long to prove yourself and you will surely do this well in the house of snakes. And finally, Ravenclaw. Your thirst for knowledge coupled with your bravery would surely make you succeed here. In fact, I think you would do best in Ravenclaw. In the end, it's really up to you which house you want to be in._

It took Percy mere seconds to choose. _And you're sure that this is the house you want?_ 'I'm sure,' said Percy.

"_GRYFFINDOR!"_ yelled the hat making half of the hall jump. Percy took the hat off glancing at the teacher's table. His father was grinning wildly. A glance at his mother proved even she was slightly more perked. This made him smile as he strode over to the house of the lions.

The sorting continued, and soon Percy was joined by a blonde-haired girl named Lavender Brown. She smiled at him beautifully. "I'm Lavender," she said. Percy returned the smile before saying, "Nice to meet you, Lavender. I'm Percy." They chatted for a little about Hogwarts and the like, but as neither knew the other very well, the conversation soon died out. While he and Lavender had been talking, several others had joined their table. It seemed as though every Muggleborn was going to Gryffindor.

Finally, he heard Headmistress McGonagall call out, "Hermione Granger," Hermione stepped forward to the stool and placed the hat on her head. She was under a mere minute before the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Gryffindor table jumped up and cheered, with Percy joining them this time. Hermione walked to the table and sat down in front of him. He nodded to her before turning his attention back to the sorting.

"Daphne Greengrass," Daphne stepped forward like the rest of them had and put on the hat. After 3 minutes, Daphne took the hat off as it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Daphne looked at them sadly before walking off to the Slytherin table. Percy looked quizzically at Hermione, but she gave him a look that said, 'Later.'

The Gryffindor table was filling up quickly, while the other tables seemed to have all gotten around the same number. After Neville Longbottom became a Gryffindor, no one else joined the House of the Lions until Parvati Patil joined. Her dark complexion went perfect with her dark hair. She sat beside Lavender, and the two proceeded to talk as if they had known each other for years.

"Harry Potter," The Headmistress called out. The Headmaster's gaze was firmly on Harry.

As Harry walked up to the stool, the silence was broken by whispers. He placed the hat on his head before sitting down. His was under for no more than 10 seconds before the hat yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" The entirety of Gryffindor jumped up cheering. Two redheaded third years began chanting, "We got Potter!"

Harry sat down to the right of Hermione. The cheering died down, thus continuing the sorting. Harry looked at Percy before asking, "What took you so long?" Percy looked at him, not understanding what he meant. "What do you mean?" Percy asked. Harry looked surprised and answered, "You were under for 20 minutes." Percy stared at him open-mouthed. "That long?" Harry laughed, "Yea! We were starting to get worried." Percy was about to tell him, but a feeling came over him. He had read of the fierce house rivalries at Hogwarts. Percy looked at Harry and shrugged, "The hat just said he wanted to look through my memories first." Harry nodded, accepting the answer, though Percy saw Hermione looking unconvinced.

The sorting finally came to a close with Zabini, a pureblood, being sent to Slytherin. Headmistress McGonagall looked exhausted, and with good reason. The sorting had taken almost 2 hours. "Now, Headmaster Dumbledore has a few words to say. Percy wasn't paying a bit of attention to the Headmaster, though he heard something about the third floor. Dumbledore ended his speech with a few odd words. Percy thought the man might be a bit daft but before he could decide upon it, the table before him was suddenly covered in all manner of foods.

The sheer quantity made Percy gasp. 'All this wouldn't last the Dursleys a year,' he thought mentally snickering. Although the time at his father's had definitely changed him, despite being merely a month, he still had some admittedly quirky behavior about food. At the Dursleys, he had only been allowed meat on holidays or when his uncle had been feeling extremely charitable. Percy grabbed as much of the roast pork as he could, yet he also grabbed a mountain of mashed potatoes.

"Damn Perce," said Harry, "Slow down!" Percy had dove into his food hungrily. "I didn't have anything on the train, remember?" Percy dove back into his food; though he attempted to be discrete about his emotions, fearful someone might see it and take the food away from him should he be enjoying it too much. "Do you want mine to Perce? Maybe I can get the rest of the table to give up their food…" Harry said laughing. Hermione covered her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Shove off, Harry," said Percy laughing.

"Hello lads! All right?" Percy nearly jumped out of his skin. Harry saw his expression and burst out laughing. "Hello, Nick. Fancy some potatoes?" Percy turned around to see a floating man dressed in peculiar clothes. The ghost laughed, "Leave it to a Potter to tease about food. I haven't eaten for 499 years, though one does begin to miss it. Aren't you going to introduce your friends, Harrison?" The name made Harry scowl. "This is Perseus Black and Hermione Granger." Nick looked at both of them before finally settling on Percy. "Another Black in Gryffindor?" asked Nick. Percy nodded. "This world is getting stranger by the year!" Nick said before floating off.

Percy stared after him. "He's a bit…barmy, isn't he?" Percy asked. "Yep, But he's quite fun to be around." Harry answered. "What are ghosts doing here anyways?" Percy asked. Hermione quickly answered, "Ghosts are witches and wizards who decided to linger rather than continue on to the afterlife." "How do you know that, Hermione?" Harry asked surprised. "Hogwarts, a History, of course!" she said. 'I must have skipped that part,' Percy thought.

Percy finished his plate of food just in time for the deserts to arrive. He spied his favorite, treacle tart. He and Harry grabbed for it at the same time. They both laughed as they saw the situation. "Well this is proof that you're my brother!" Harry said. All three of them laughed.

Percy and Harry showed Hermione the delicacy that is treacle tart. She denied it, insisting that she had tried it many times. Treacle tart in the wizarding world was different from its Muggle counterpart. While they were both still made from the same ingredients, House elves had put spells on the food to change according to the wizard or witches preference. After having to nearly force the pastry down her throat, they had finally gotten her to try it. She gave them a neutral expression as she ate it, saying, "It's better than I expected." It was obvious that she had loved it because Percy noticed her eyes sparkling.

Percy looked over at the Slytherin table. He searched the table until he found the beautiful blonde. Daphne's expression was completely cold. A dark-haired girl seemed to be attempting to converse with her, but Daphne seemed to mostly shrug them off.

Soon, everyone had had their fill of deserts and the day was starting to catch up with them. Some of the students were barely keeping their eyes open. "Well then," said Dumbledore getting the halls attention. "Now that everyone has finished, will the prefects please escort the first years to their dorms? It's almost curfew." The whole hall stood up. Percy noticed what looked like a beetle fly off of Harry's shirt. He was too tired to think anything of it. "Gryffindor first years, this way!"

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**A/N- I wasn't sure if I should have put him in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. I just figured that it would be easier to converse between characters this way. Oh and the character thing won't let me put as the OC first for some reason. Every time I update it, it just reverts back to the way it is.**

**Don't forget to review!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N- Here's chapter 5. Like I said, since Hogwarts is a bigger school, which could hold more students, there had to be more teachers.**

**Of course, I made up most of the classes. **

**Chapter 5- The First Day**

_September 2, 1991_

Percy woke up with the sun in his face, and an unfamiliar ceiling above him. He took a few seconds to fully wake up. With a stretch and a yawn, he slid out of bed only to find himself fall into a heap. He looked around at his surroundings, as he picked himself up. There were rows upon rows of bunks. His bunk was in the left corner. He was apparently on a top bunk, which led to his fall. The bunk under his was occupied by Harry.

Harry's bed was a mess. He had his right arm and leg hanging off the bed. His covers were clumped at the foot of the bed.

Percy couldn't resist his urge to prank Harry. He walked into the adjoining bathroom, and walked over to the sink. 'What to put it in, though?' he pondered. He remembered back to when he was glancing through his conjuration book. "Vocare Situla," said Percy forcefully. Within seconds, a 3 gallon bucket appeared out of nowhere. Percy felt drained by the task, but he took no notice of it. After filling the bucket with cold water, he carried it out into the main room. A few of the occupants were awake and chatting quietly, but most including his target, slept away silently. He tiptoed over to Harry, and dumped the water.

Harry was to fast. He rolled out of bed before the water even touched him. "Close one, Perce! But I've been pranked all my life," he said smiling. Percy was getting even more exhausted by the second. He realized it was the conjured bucket. "Evocatae Dimittere," Percy said and sighed as the strain on his magic was lifted as the bucket faded away. "Where do you learn all this cool stuff, Perce?" Harry asked appalled. Percy shrugged, "Books. You should try 'em sometime and you might actually learn something." "I'd rather play Quidditch. Have you had breakfast yet?" Harry said. "No, I was waiting for your sorry arse to get up!" said Percy moving to the bathroom. "Hey!" Harry yelled before following him.

Percy was glad that Hogwarts had showers. It was strange to believe that they were only implemented into the wizarding world 5 years ago. Before that, they used baths. Percy had never been given the luxury of a bath anyways. He had been drilled to take as fast a shower as possible, the Dursleys giving him about 1 minute to shower. Percy had managed to slightly break this habit at his father's house, but he still only allotted himself 3 minutes. Thus, he was out of the shower before Harry had even started his hair. Percy got dressed and deciding to wait for Harry in the common room.

Percy stepped out of the first year dorm room, and began the lengthy trek down the tower to the common room. Last night, he had been so exhausted that he didn't take notice to his surroundings. He noted several paintings of famous Gryffindors. None of them really kept his attention, until around the fourth year's dorm; he spied a painting of a man with a flowing white beard. 'The Headmaster!' Percy noticed with another glance. There was a plaque underneath the painting that read:

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Born- 1881_

_The most powerful wizard, politically as well as magically, of this generation._

_Titles:_

_Destroyer of Grindelwald _

_Headmaster of Hogwarts_

_Grand Sorcerer_

_Supreme Mugwump of the ICW_

_Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot_

This was the man who had defeated his grandfather. He wasn't entirely sure what he should feel about that. Given that his grandfather was a dark lord who killed millions of muggles, he guessed it was a good thing.

He continued to walk down the stairs, till he made it to the common room. The common room was massive, probably around a quarter of the great hall's size. Students had already trickled in, and sat in twos and threes, chatting.

He caught a glimpse of bushy, brown hair. He walked over to her. She sat in one of the chairs near the entrance to the girl's dormitories. "Hey, Hermione," he said as he walked up to her.

She whipped around, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. "Hello Percy! Did you sleep well? I hope so because it's the first day of classes. You need to have at least 8 hours of sleep at our age. It's a proven study, you know. Where's Harry?"

In that moment, he was grateful to have a fast processing brain. He wouldn't have been able to comprehend anything that was just said without it. Still the best he could say was, "Uh…Yes?"

Behind him, someone burst into laughter. Percy turned around to find Harry guffawing. Percy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Harry managed to calm himself so he could answer. "She just fried your brain, didn't she? Nodding to the affirmative, Percy turned back around. Hermione looked deathly pale. "What's wrong, Hermione?" he asked carefully.

She looked quizzically at them and asked, "You're still here?" Percy looked at her surprised. Harry looked sad as he asked, "Do you not want to be friends?" Hermione smiled the cutest smile Percy had ever seen. Then, seemingly as if she had forgotten the question, she quickly said, "You want to be my friend?" Both Percy and Harry nodded to the affirmative. She smiled a toothy grin before saying, "Let's go get some breakfast." "I can vouch for that!" said Harry as they walked out the portrait door.

The great hall was already filled with teachers. There were a few students in there as well, but very few and widespread.

Percy spied Daphne sitting alone at the Slytherin table. 'Poor Daphne,' thought Percy. He decided to go at least tell her good morning, and subsequently cheer her up. He sauntered over to the Slytherin table, feeling the various students' eyes watching him. Percy sat down in front of Daphne. She made no confirmation of her knowledge to his presence. "Daphne, Are you ok?" Daphne's head shot up as Percy asked her. "Hey Perseus and yes I'm perfectly fine," she said smiling though her tone didn't match her smile.

Percy smiled back at her. He still couldn't get over her beauty, even if this was only the second time they had talked. "Why don't you sit with us?" he questioned. She looked disbelievingly at him before laughing. "Different houses can't sit together, Percy. Especially not Slytherin and Gryffindor."

Percy could've smacked himself. "Uh-oh," said Daphne. "Here comes Snape."

Percy turned around to see a dark-haired man approaching. He stood up in a move of respect. "Professor," he said dipping his head slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father stand up and begin moving towards them. "Mr. Black, you do know the school rules, correct?" "I…uhh…Yes sir," Percy nervously said. Snape smirked, "Then you would know that each house has its own table for a reason. Besides, I doubt Mrs. Greengrass wants to be in the company of a foolhardy Gryffindor."

Percy looked at Daphne, who had her head facing downward. She seemed to not care whether Percy got in trouble or not. This sent a pang through Percy's heart, though he didn't know why.

Snape was about to continue, when their conversation was interrupted. "Snivellus! How nice to see you! Why don't you go read a book about personal hygiene instead of antagonizing my son?" His father stood behind Professor Snape with a fake smile on his face.

Snape turned around with a sneer, "5 points from Gryffindor!" He walked out of the hall, his robes billowing behind him. His father sighed, "Snivellus is such a git. 10 points to Gryffindor for promoting house unity."

After giving Daphne a hurt look, which was ignored, Percy made his way over to the Gryffindor table. Both Harry and Hermione were already halfway through their breakfast, by the time he arrived. Percy sat down heavily and sighed. Harry gave him a sympathetic look. Percy smiled gratefully before asking, "What happened to her? She was so nice yesterday…" Harry shrugged and said, "My dad says that all Slytherins are either born evil, or are turned evil because of their housemates."

Hermione gave Harry a furious look. "Nobody's born evil, Harry. They're probably just misunderstood." Harry gave a laugh of disbelief. Percy was glad he had kept his experience with the hat to himself.

Percy only ate a few pieces of bacon for breakfast. He was nervous about starting his first day of classes. About halfway through his breakfast, he remembered something he wanted to ask Hermione. "Hermione, how come there is a Headmaster and a Headmistress?" he asked. Her reply was, "Surely you read Hogwarts, A History before coming here?"

"I forgot most of it," Percy replied slightly embarrassed. Surprisingly, Harry interjected before Hermione could start her explanation. "There are so many students who come to Hogwarts, that the Headmaster cannot possibly fulfill every duty. Also, considering that he is the Supreme Mugwump as well as the Chief Warlock, he needs all the help he can get."

Percy and Hermione stared at him. "What?" He asked confused. Percy shook his head in amusement before turning back to Hermione. "How many students can this place hold?" "Well…Events such as the Triwizard Tournament have been held here, and we know that there are approximately 8,000 seats in the great hall…" She took a minute to think. "I'd say at least 20, 000," she said finally. Percy thought appalled.

Before their conversation could delve any further, Harry's dad came up behind them. He handed them their schedules, before moving further down the table saying, "Have a great day!"

Percy smiled. He quite liked Professor Potter. Percy looked down at his schedule. The schedule read like this:

_Perseus Romulus Black_

_A-Day _

_1__st__\- Transfiguration with Professor Potter_

_2__nd__\- Charms with Professor Flitwick_

_3__rd__\- Conjuration with Professor Winston_

_Lunch _

_4__th__\- Offensive Magics with Professor Black_

_5__th__\- Magical Theory with Professor Abbott_

_6__th__\- Illusion with Professor Rowley_

_B-Day_

_1__st__\- Defense against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell _

_2__nd__\- Intro to Dueling with Professor Hobday_

_3__rd__\- Potions with Professor Snape_

_Lunch_

_4__th__\- Ancient Runes with Professor Babbling_

_5__th__\- Muggle Studies with Professor Potter-Evans_

_6__th__\- Herbology with Professor Sprout_

_Astrology with Professor Sinistra (Sat. at 12 am)_

"What the hell is A and B-Day?" Harry asked. "Harry, Language!" Hermione screeched. Percy couldn't help but snort in amusement. "Sorry, 'Mione," Harry said sheepishly.

Hermione was about to speak before she stopped. "What did you just call me?" She asked to Harry. Harry replied, "I called you, 'Mione because I thought it was a good nickname, but I'll stop. I didn't mean to offend you."

"I never said I didn't like it, Harry," she said blushing. Harry smiled triumphantly. "Anyways," Hermione began, "We have A and B-Days to give us as many classes as possible."

"Oh," was Harry's intelligent reply. "Classes start at 10 today, right?" Percy decided to ask. "Correct," Hermione answered. "Mione we're not in class, yet! We don't have to talk like that!" Harry said indignantly. Hermione just huffed.

"Damn portraits!" Harry yelled furiously. "Language, Harry!" Hermione replied just as vigorously. Percy was the only one of the three, who was still calm. "Chill guys! I'll just ask that portrait." Percy said moving towards said portrait. "You realize that's why we're in this situation in the first place, right?" Harry said.

Percy sighed. Harry did have a point. At 9:30, they had left the great hall in an attempt to reach the transfiguration classroom. Harry was sure that the classroom was on the fourth floor.

"My dad's classroom is on the fourth floor. He'll tell us where the transfiguration classroom is," Percy said with a sigh of defeat. He had wanted to get them there without directions, but that hadn't worked out to well so far.

The others followed him to classroom 4F. His father had drilled the classroom's location into his mind, in case Percy needed him. Percy knocked on the door thrice before stepping back. "You're sure your father isn't going to get angry at us, Percy?" Hermione asked almost timidly. Both Harry and Percy laughed at that. "Don't worry, 'Mione. Percy's dad is nice…unless he's trying to prank." Harry said with a smile.

At that moment, the door opened to reveal his father. "Percy, Harry, Mrs. Granger." He said matter-of-factly. He eyed them for a minute more, making the three of them more and more nervous, before saying, "Why are you here and not in Transfiguration?" He was looking pointedly at Percy, but he was to busy looking at his feet to notice.

"We got lost," Harry said for him. Percy gave him a grateful look before his father ushered them inside his classroom. The class contained fourth year Puffs and Claws. His father turned to his class with an expression on his face that Percy had never seen before. It definitely spoke 'no tolerance.'

"By the time I return, I expect a list of spells and charms that can block Unforgivables," he said before walking into his personal office. Percy followed him in, followed by Harry and Hermione.

His father closed the door before turning around to smile at them. "I gave them a trick question. Nothing can block Unforgivables," he said smugly. "Oh…Ok then," Percy said as he filed the information away for later. "Can you tell us how to get to Professor Potter's class?" Harry asked impatiently.

"It's classroom 1B," he said. "Wait!" He yelled out stopping the three of them halfway out the door. "Potter will definitely take points away…unless of course, you had a valid reason. Percy and Hermione shared a confused glance. "We don't have one though, sir," Hermione said quizzically. The grin his father was sporting, gave Percy the notion that his father had an idea.

"Class, please take out your quills and write what is on the board," Professor Potter said. His Professor was still sporting a grin at his father's antics.

They had arrived through the floo, into Professor Potter's personal office. Class had begun 10 minutes ago, and Hermione was getting upset over missing the first lesson.

Professor Black walked solemnly out of the office followed by the three teens. "Professor Black, how can I help you?" Professor Potter asked with interest.

"Your students got lost on the way to class, so I took it upon myself to lead them here," his father said. "That was your joke!" Harry whined appalled at SIRIUS Black's serious nature.

His father winked at them while saying, "You know what they say: The best joke is the truth!" Hermione frowned and said, "Who said that?" "I just did," Sirius said.

After Professor Black had left, the trio had sat down in the only available seats, which were in the front row. The lesson seemed to zoom by, and soon the bell signaling the end of class rang.

"Where are we going next, Hermione?" Percy asked. "Charms with Professor Flitwick," she answered. "Any idea where his classroom is?" Harry asked as he finished putting away his quill and parchment. A nod to the negative from both himself and Hermione gave Harry his answer. "Let's ask my dad before we go try and find it ourselves," Harry said.

Classroom 2E was located on the second floor. The class itself was rather boring Percy thought, but then again, they were only talking about theory. Another hour passed before they were released for lunch.

The trio had to wade through the crowd to get to the furthest end of the Gryffindor table. "Hey, here's a good idea. Let's stand in between the tables and block everybody's way," Harry mocked. Percy couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that the slightest things could put his brother in a foul mood.

The food appeared on the table, and Percy filled his plate before devouring it. He had worked quite an appetite writing notes on theory. The occupants of the great hall gradually finished their meal and left. "What's up next, Hermione," Harry asked.

She looked conflicted for a moment before looking sadly at Percy. "Harry and I have Muggle Studies, but you have Conjuration next, Percy." Percy sighed in resignation. "Do we at least have Offensive Magics together?" Percy asked hoping he would have multiple classes with two of his best friends. Hermione contrasted all three schedules before answering Percy. "We have all the same classes except for 3rd on A-Day and 5th and 6th on B-Day.

"I'll see you guys later then," Percy said walking off. Percy soon found himself wondering through the hallways, desperately trying to find the conjuration classroom. 'How hard would it be to put the room number on here,' Percy thought frustrated.

It was a godsend when he found Seamus Finnegan telling Dean Thomas that one of the portraits had told him the location. Percy swiftly followed them as they took off for the fifth floor. They stopped in front of room 5T. Percy walked in, looking at the clock as he did. 12:59. Percy breathed a sigh of relief. He had barely made it.

Conjuration turned out to be about as much fun as charms and transfiguration. He had taken a seat by his fellow Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom. Neville turned out to be a pretty okay bloke. Percy couldn't help to notice Daphne on the other side of the room. She sat beside the dark-haired girl who had apparently won her over since yesterday.

Conjuration was over quick enough. Just as in his first two classes, all they did was take notes on theory.

Percy made it to the Offensive Magics classroom first, only to find it empty. He contemplated going to find Harry and Hermione, but before he could decide on a course of action, they entered the room.

"Hey Perce, How was Conjuration?" Harry asked. "It was about the same as Charms and Transfiguration. What about Muggle Studies?" Percy replied. "Mum's an excellent teacher, but we both already knew about muggle society, so it was kind of boring," Harry said. "How about we sit down?" Hermione asked. The two boys nodded and followed her into a desk on the front row.

They were soon joined by their classmates, many of whom barely making it in time. His father walked into the room from his private quarters, and took his spot at the front of the classroom. "Hello class," he said. "Welcome to Offensive Magics. In my class, there are no theories. I tell you which spell you're learning, how to use the spell and which situations to apply it in. The only thing we do in this class is destroy."

"I like this class already," Harry said causing Percy to chuckle. His father looked at them before saying, "I'm sure you've met my son Percy." Percy didn't like where this was going and his face began to redden, anticipating what was to come.

"He's quite a dashing young fellow, isn't he? He reminds me of myself at his age. Unless he's been taken since last night, I believe he's single, ladies," he said with the obvious intention of embarrassing his son.

Percy's face was redder than a Weasley's hair by this point. He could hear some chattering behind him, especially from the girls, and assumed they were making fun of him. 'Only in my life…' he thought.

"Anyways, on to today's lesson," his father said before diving into the day's lesson. The lesson for this week would be learning to effectively cast stupefy. Only Harry and he had managed to cast it by the end of the class.

This particular hour seemed to last the longest, as his father would every now and then try to embarrass Percy, of which every one accomplished the feat. When the bell rang, Percy was the first out the door. He stood apprehensively outside the door until Harry and Hermione rejoined him.

"I don't know which part of the lesson I liked more: that we get to actually do something or that we get to watch Percy go redder than a Weasley's hair!" Harry said laughing. Percy just sighed. "What's our next class, Hermione?" Percy said to move the conversation along.

"Magical Theory with Professor Abbott. I wonder if she's related to Hannah Abbott." "Who?" Harry and Percy asked at the same time. Hermione scoffed, "Honestly, don't you two pay attention?"

As it turned out Professor Abbott was not only related to Hannah, but was also her mother. Percy made a mental note to be extra good in her class, as the Abbott's were a heavily influential light family.

The class was as to be expected. Just magical theory and how we have magic. Why we have magic. Percy was barely staying awake when the bell signaled the end of class.

The trio headed on to their final class of the day, Illusion. It was not what Percy expected. Illusion and Conjuration were actually slightly related. Once they actually got to the practical part of illusion, they would eventually work themselves up to where they would be creating inanimate things and eventually animate things out of basically nothing.

The bell rang much too quickly for Percy, who had been immersed in the concepts that Professor Rowley had given them. The three made their way up to Gryffindor tower, so that they could rest before dinner.

Naturally, none of the professors had given any homework the first day, so with little else to do Percy and Harry began a game of exploding snap. Hermione settled for reading in one of the chairs near them.

Dinner was a quiet affair, most likely because everybody was tired after their first day at school. Percy's eyes were drooping after he finished dinner. His friends were still eating, so he decided to wait for them.

Neither Harry nor Hermione were saying much, however and boredom soon began to affect Percy. He took a look around the great hall. Nothing in particular caught his eye, until his eyes came to rest on Professor Quirrell, the DADA teacher. As soon as his eyes met his professor's, he felt a shooting pain in his scar. He felt the Professor's eyes move away from him, and breathed a sigh of relief when the pain ended. Percy thought nothing of the incident and neither Harry nor Hermione had noticed it either.

As soon as the rest of the trio had finished their food, Percy had made a straight beeline for Gryffindor tower, and more specifically, his bed. None of the trio noticed a blonde Slytherin looking longingly at them throughout dinner.

'Can this day get any better?' she thought to herself. 'Loads,' she answered to herself. Daphne Greengrass lay thinking in her bed after the dismal experience that was her first day at Hogwarts.

Tracey Davis had annoyingly followed her around, and stuck to her as if she were a lost puppy. Daphne was blind; she could tell that the Davis girl had an ulterior motive that Daphne had yet to discern. Her father was Thomas Davis after all. He was well known for his subtlety in the wizarding world.

Daphne's thoughts then turned to the real reason why today was so horrible. The three friends she had made on the train were not only sorted into a different house, but into Gryffindor, and she knew that soon they would hate her. Even if she didn't act like the others they always would.

She sighed. It would not do well to dwell on such thoughts. But she couldn't help it. She could do without Potter and Granger. They were nice to her, but she hadn't really connected to them. But Percy on the other hand…

As soon as she saw him on the train, she had felt something for him. It was strange. It felt almost like she needed him. She just hoped it didn't mean what she thought it meant. 'Then again, didn't I dream of him the other night?' she thought, as she drifting off into the realm of Morpheus.

**A/N- I just noticed I left out History of Magic. Woops. Oh well, they can take it next year.**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N- Hey guys! Hope you all are having a good day. So here's the 6****th**** chapter. The title should make sense I hope, once you get through it a ways. Oh, and this week's story is pretty well known on fanfiction I think. It is tied with another as my favorite story. **_**Earl of the North**_** by Lord Silvere.**

**Chapter 6- A Day in the Life at Hogwarts **

_September 3, 1991_

The next day turned out to be more or less like the day before. The day started with Defense against the Dark Arts with Quirrell. Throughout the entirety of the class, Percy's scar was tingling annoyingly.

Professor Hobday was, to put it nicely, a blubbering idiot. Percy and Harry could not think of any good reason why he was the dueling instructor. The only thing they did was go over fueling stance.

The day didn't get interesting, until Potions with Professor Snape. Because of the incident which occurred yesterday, Percy was not in any way excited to get to his 3rd class of the day. Hermione, Harry and Percy were forced to run to make it to class on time. The dueling classroom was situated inefficiently on the 7th floor.

They made it into the classroom mere seconds before Snape closed the door behind them. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Black and Miss Granger, please take your seats," the Potions professor said with a sneer. The three of them took their seats in the front of the classroom, and began to get out the necessary materials for Potions.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving conducted here. You are here to study the art of potions. Few will respect this class, and fewer will attain an O," he sneered, looking pointedly at Percy and Harry.

"But for those who excel at the beautiful art of potions, I can teach you to bewitch the mind, ensnare the senses, how to bottle fame, to brew glory and even put a stopper on death," Snape said, looking directly at Harry.

"Potter!" Harry jumped startled. He had been taking notes on Snape's speech since he had walked into the classroom. "Of course our newest celebrity has come to Hogwarts with abilities so formidable that he needn't pay attention," he said sneering at Harry.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" "I don't know, sir," said Harry. Snape's lips curled into a sneer. "Tut, tut-fame clearly isn't everything." He ignored Hermione's hand.

"Black!" Percy jumped just as high as Harry had. "Yes sir?" Percy asked timidly. Snape didn't seem to notice his student's change in confidence. "Answer the question I just asked Potter, Black!" Snape yelled, clearly frustrated for some unknown reason.

Percy thought back to what he had read this summer from his potions book. "Uhhm…Draught of Living Death, sir?" Percy said, stated obviously as a question. If it was possible, Snape's sneer widened. "I guess you're not a complete dunderhead as your father was, Black."

He turned back to Harry, who was fuming after Snape's comment about his fame. "Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" Despite Harry's gritted teeth, the boy-who-lived still managed to get out, "I don't know, sir."

"Pathetic, Potter," Snape said. By this point, the Slytherins were nearly in tears as the hero of Magical Britain was put out by a mere potions professor. Harry was extremely cheesed off, if his facial expression was anything to go by. Hermione looked like she was getting more frustrated by the second. She was literally hanging out of her desk, trying to gain Snape's attention.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Harry's knuckles were going white, as he was gripping the sides of his desk to hard. "I don't know, sir," Harry said, whose face was red with rage. "I think Hermione might know, so why don't you let her have a go?"

Snape finally gave Hermione a glance. "Miss Granger. Sit down," Snape snapped. "And one point from Gryffindor for cheek, Mr. Potter."

The rest of potions went by fairly quickly. With Snape breathing down their necks, Percy and Harry nearly botched up their potion. Hermione's quick thinking saved them from a reprieve from Snape. They were not so lucky, as at that moment, Neville melted his cauldron. Another point was taken from Harry because he was, 'trying to make himself look better through Neville's failure.'

All in all, the trio left potions in a bitter mood. They nearly ran from the dungeons, afraid that Snape would blame something else on them. "Who does the greasy git think he is?" Harry raged after they were out of the dungeons. Percy couldn't help but snicker at that.

"Be a little more respectful, will you, Harry," Hermione chided, but it seemed she herself didn't mind bashing Snape a little.

The trio managed to make it into the great hall before most of the other students, therefore avoiding the traffic jam that plagued them the day prior. They took their seats at the end of the table, extending pleasantries to their parents as well as their pupils.

After everyone had taken their seats, the food was brought out like every average lunch. The trio filled their plates with food, as conversation began to overtake the silence in the hall.

All of a sudden, thousands of owls swarmed the great hall. Percy was forced to duck his head, in fear of his head being dismembered from his body. "Harry! Care to enlighten us?" Hermione said frustrated with the reckless owls, as well as the wide grin Harry's face was sporting.

Harry looked at them quizzically, before realization dawned on his face. "I forget that you guys weren't raised in the wizarding world sometimes," he said apologetically. "The Daily Prophet runs papers every Tuesday and Saturday," Harry explained.

An owl landed in front of each of them, and looked at them patiently. Percy reached out to snag the newspaper, only to be nipped by the aggressive owl. "Bugger!" Percy shouted in obvious pain. This caused Harry to laugh. "You've got to pay it a knut first, Perce!"

"Ruddy owl," Percy mumbled, as he fished through his pocket for the correct change. He paid the owl, and grabbed the paper eagerly. He opened it, and was quick to notice the front page's title: _'Pure-boy-who-lived.' _Eager to see what the prophet would say about his brother, he wasted no time in immersing himself in the story.

'_PURE-BOY-WHO-LIVED!_

_During the Hogwarts sorting event Sunday night, we at the Daily Prophet came upon a cover-up of the parentage of no other than the boy-who-lived. That's right; Harry Potter's parentage has been covered up. We all know how when called up to be sorted, the Headmistress calls out your name and status. It is well known that Lily Potter is a Muggleborn, so how is it that Harry Potter, is a PUREBLOOD? _

_Well the answer is obvious ladies and gentlemen; James Potter's past has caught up to him. Hundreds of witches fell to James' looks during his Hogwarts days. Apparently, one of them was lucky enough to have given birth to the savior of the Magical world. _

_Lily Potter continues to claim the child as hers, despite the fact that he obviously isn't. Words of advice, Mrs. Potter, save some of your dignity and admit the truth._

_Harry himself seems to be getting along swimmingly with the students of Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry, striking up friendships with one of the newest members of our society, Muggleborn Hermione Granger, and the son apparent of Sirius Black (more on that below)._

Percy then looked at the article below which stated _Son of Black?_

_SON OF BLACK?_

_It appears that the Blacks have a new heir, and his name is Perseus Black. The apparent son of Sirius Black had come to Hogwarts, making friends with non-other than Harry Potter. It looks like both Lord Potter's and Lord Black's past lives have caught up with them. Although Black's mother is unknown, he seems to physically take after his father. The same handsome looks that plagued Hogwart's halls a generation ago is back. Watch out ladies, it looks like a new woman-killer is on the way. And if the looks he was giving Mrs. Potter at the sorting are any inclination, it looks like he may have found his first victim. _

Percy's mouth was agape, especially at that last sentence. A glance at Harry showed that while his reaction was not as strong, he was definitely surprised. Percy could almost feel the stares directed in their direction.

The silence was broken by the laugh of his father which echoed throughout the hall. The majority of the hall, including the trio, stared bewilderedly at the Offensive Magic's professor. "So when do you want me to set up the wedding Professor Evans?"

For the people who knew of Percy's and Professor Evans-Potter's relation to each other, couldn't hold in the laugh. The hall watched in silent amazement as Professors Potter and Black, as well as Perseus Black, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Daphne Greengrass burst out laughing. Harry fell out of his seat, and Hermione had tears in her eyes.

"Well then," the Headmaster said, looking quizzically at the laughing adults and teens. "I believe it's time for the fourth class of the day to begin."

Ancient Runes proved to be quite interesting. Despite it being their first class, Professor Babbling was quick to give them challenging work. Percy proved to excel with the complicated symbols, and Harry was no slouch either. Hermione's knowledge appalled the class, as she quickly took the lead role in answering the professor's questions.

Ancient Runes ended quicker than Percy would have liked, as he was once again separated from his friends. Percy made his trek from the sixth floor to the first floor alone.

He entered the classroom with only seconds to spare, and found only one seat available. Percy didn't even look at the other occupant of the table. He sat down, only to notice the other occupant was no other than Daphne Greengrass.

"May I have the pleasure of sitting with you, Mrs. Greengrass?" Percy asked, with a tad of uncertainty. "But of course, Monsieur Black! I would greatly enjoy being graced with your presence." Daphne said, a ghost of a smile crossing her face.

The bell rang once, signaling the beginning of class. "If Mr. Black is done seducing the fair maidens of our school," she said, glaring at Percy. Percy's face began to sport a dark crimson blush. "We can start the class," she finished.

To Percy, the study of muggles was the most boring class of all. He had lived in the muggle world for 10 years, so he knew the entire curriculum of the class. Percy soon grew tired of his mother's constant droning, followed by most of the class' response of 'oohs' and 'ahs.'

Fortunately, the bell rang just as Percy was about to fall asleep, which would have caused at the least, an unwanted detention. Percy was the first out of the room, and made his way to the Herbology greenhouses. For the first time today, Percy could actually walk to class.

Percy walked into the Herbology classroom, which was classroom 102 on the first floor, and sat at one of the tri-tables. He was soon joined by Neville and Daphne. "Hey Nev, Hey Daph," Percy said weakly. After a few seconds without an answer, he looked up to see them staring at him. He realized then that he may have offended them by calling them by unofficial nicknames. "What did you just call me?" Neville asked timidly.

Percy gulped. 'Great, I've lost half my friends by being stupid,' he thought bitterly. "Nev," he answered nervously. Percy was surprised when a big grin spread across Neville's face.

Trying, but ultimately failing to push his insecurities away, he turned to Daphne shyly and said, "I'm sorry if I offended you Daphne. I hope we can still be friends." The prolonged silence seemed to give Percy his answer, and he turned around in a defeated manner.

Meanwhile, Daphne could not stop staring at Percy. It was like he had two different personalities. She wanted to know more about her friend, but realized that she had not replied to her friend. "Percy, I loved the nickname," she said to him with a smile.

The smile that Percy had gained after Daphne's response, stayed on him until the lesson began. It soon changed into a frustrated frown. The study of plants bored him out of his mind, and he soon found himself wishing he was back in Muggle Studies. His earlier statement about Muggle Studies being the most boring class was soon overshadowed by the study of plants.

Time seemed to move by slower in Herbology, and Percy felt like he had been through 2 classes instead of 1. After goodbyes to both Neville and Daphne, Percy raced out of the classroom as if his life depended on it. He rushed to Gryffindor tower, meeting Harry and Hermione at the portrait hole.

"Hey, Perce. Good day?" Harry asked nonchalantly. "Fantastic really. And yours?" Percy asked. "Bloody Conjuration," Harry mumbled, before walking into the common room. Percy looked quizzically at Hermione, who rolled her eyes and said, "Harry thinks Conjuration is the worst class ever."

Supper was the same as usual, with conversations filling the hall. Soon, the students started to drizzle out to their respective common rooms. Harry and Percy stayed up to till nine playing gobstones before heading off to the dorm rooms. As soon as Percy's head hit his pillow, he was fast asleep.

Albus Dumbledore was quite confused. Dumbledore and confused were not usually used in the same sentence in the wizarding world, but today, Dumbledore was completely stumped. 'Where did this Perseus Black character come from all of a sudden?' he mused, as he awaited the arrival of the professors for the weekly status report. They were usually held on Fridays, but Dumbledore had some information he needed to glean.

Around 9 o'clock, the professors began to stumble into his office. The last of the professors to arrive were the most important to Dumbledore's plans. Sirius Black, James Potter and Lily Potter walked into his office, which began the meeting.

"Good evening to you all," Dumbledore said. The various professors replied with pleasantries of their own. "Good then. Now we can begin." Dumbledore was itching to know just who Perseus Black was. "I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'Who in Merlin's name is Perseus Black?"

Lily Potter visibly bristled at the name, which only Dumbledore noticed. 'Interesting,' he thought, with curiosity.

"He's my son," Sirius Black replied cautiously. "Well my boy," Dumbledore began with his telltale grandfather persona. Sirius seemed to calm down, and Dumbledore figured he ought to give the professor a little nudge in the right direction. 'A silent compulsion charm out to do the trick,' Dumbledore mused.

"Lily Potter is his mother," Sirius said in a monotone voice. Dumbledore winced. 'Perhaps, that was a little too much on the compulsion.' Lily Potter turned furiously on Sirius. Lily proceeded to give the Offensive Magic's professor a tongue-lashing to be remembered. It was really a miracle that no wands were drawn.

"Lily, you must calm down," Dumbledore said forcefully, reinforced with a slight compulsion. The redhead was quick to sit back down in her chair, and fume inside.

'I cannot let the public know about this. It might take the attention away from young Mr. Potter," he mused. He turned and looked each of his professors in the eye. "This must not reach the public. I'll trust you to keep this information safe," he said, looking straight at Hagrid.

Hagrid was a nice enough fellow, and was deathly loyal to him. But he was more than a little loose lipped at the worst times. Hagrid blushed in embarrassment.

"Moving on," Dumbledore began. "How has Harry's first few days been? Is he fitting in well with his classmates?" The professors all chipped in their thoughts about Harry, and Dumbledore was able to get an accurate reading on his power and personality.

According to the professors, Harry was constantly with Miss Granger and Mr. Black. He had yet to apply himself in his classes. He was not arrogant or selfish, and showed no signs that he was even famous. Dumbledore was disappointed, but he could still make his plan work without to many compulsions.

**A/N- So I hope I didn't completely butcher the newspaper. It was difficult trying to make it sound like an actual newspaper sounds. I hope you enjoy **_**Earl of the North**_** as much as I do. Keep on reading and reviewing!**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N- Hey guys! Here's chapter 7. The title pretty much says all that you can expect this chapter.**

**Next week is my spring break, so I'll be pumping on chapters as fast as I can. So don't be surprised if I upload multiple times.**

**I don't know how many chapters this is going to be still, so…**

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 7- Quidditch and Trolls**

_September 6, 1991_

The week passed rather quickly for Percy. In the mornings, he would try to prank Harry, to little avail. They would meet Hermione in the common room, and then they would playfully banter as they walked to the great hall.

After breakfast, Percy would work hard through his classes, except for in Potions and Muggle Studies, as everything he did was ridiculed, with the occasional conversation with his friends.

After classes, Percy would do his homework, with a little help from Hermione, and then play a wizarding game with Harry. Dinner was always a rambunctious affair, what with wizards like the Weasley twins running around.

By Saturday, Percy was finally starting to get used to his new lifestyle. So as usual he woke up around 6:30. Remembering the day, he decided to sleep in for probably the first time in his life.

Percy woke up to find himself alone in the dormitory. He cast a quick tempus, and paled as he saw the time. It was already past 10 o'clock, meaning that there would be no breakfast this morning.

Percy rushed through his morning routine, before dashing out into the common room. Finding it mostly empty, he turned towards the portrait hole, exiting it in a dash. Behind him, he heard the Fat Lady's portrait call out, "Watch yourself, deary. At those speeds, you could easily trip!"

Percy made it to the great hall in record timing, with only a few stumbles and one embarrassing fall down the stairs in front of some Puff girls, only to find it basically devoid of life.

Now he was starting to panic. He was deathly scared of losing his friends. 'Maybe…maybe they decided to abandon me? It was only a matter of time, anyways," he thought pessimistically. He shook his head. They were Harry and Hermione for goodness sake! They wouldn't abandon him. They were probably just sauntering around the castle somewhere.

Percy walked out of the great hall, and found a group of Ravenclaw girls talking in a corner. Steeling his nerves, he walked over to them. "Excuse me. Do you happen to know where Harry Potter is?"

One of the girls turned around with a look that said 'bugger off.' Percy braced for a rejection, but was surprised when the girl's expression changed upon seeing his face. "You're that Black kid, right?" Percy nodded to the affirmative.

The girl turned around and started chatting excitably. Percy was confused. The girl looked she was going to help him, but then just ignored him. Percy sighed and turned around, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He immediately went rigid.

The girl turned him around and looked at him quizzically. Her friends started giggling behind her. "I'll tell you where they are if you go with me into that broom closet," she said. "Well, I mean if you really want to sweep, I suppose I could do that." Percy answered.

The girl, who was an admittedly pretty Asian girl, took his hand and led him into the closet. The closet was dark, and Percy was reminded of his cupboard at the Dursley's. "So where's the..." Percy was cut off as the girl's lips smashed into his. Percy panicked and pushed her away. "What are you doing?"

"I'm getting that snog from you, Black," she answered winking. She pushed him against the wall with a hungry look in her eyes. 'She looks almost like a panther,' he thought. "Just relax, and let me do all the work," she said seductively. And then she pounced.

About a minute later, the door opened and Percy stumbled out dazed and disheveled. "Damn Black! That was a good snog. Your friends are at the Quidditch pitch," said the beautiful Asian girl. "And I'm Cho Chang by the way." She winked and walked off.

'What the bloody hell just happened?" Percy shook his head to try to regain some semblance of clarity in his mind. Despite not having full control of his mind, Percy managed to remember at least one thing the Asian beauty had said. 'The Quidditch pitch! Shit, I forgot we had flying lessons today!' Without another thought, Percy took off towards the Quidditch pitch.

"Does anyone know where Black is?" Madam Hooch called out. Percy was close enough to hear her, but he was breathing heavily from his run. "There he is," Hermione said upon spotting him.

Percy caught his breath before walking up to the group, which comprised the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years, as well as professors Hooch, Potter and Black. "Where were you, Percy? You almost missed the lesson," his father asked him.

"Sorry, a Ravenclaw girl took me into a broom closet and…what was it she called it? Snogging?" Percy replied. The professors stared at him for a moment before his father's and his stepdad's laughter pierced the silence. "That's my boy!" Sirius said.

"What was her name then, Percy?" Professor Potter asked. "Uh…Cho, I think," Percy replied. "Great job, son. She's quite the catch!" his father said. Before Percy could reply, Madam Hooch shoved a broom into Percy's hands.

"Fortunately, you made it just in time for the lesson," she said to him. "Now everyone get into a line!" Madam Hooch yelled, startling the nearly 300 first year students into action.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" everyone shouted. To Percy's complete surprise, the broom shot up into his hand immediately. Looking around, he noticed that besides himself, only Harry's and Malfoy's broom obeyed their command.

"Again!" shouted Madam Hooch. After a minute, everyone had more or less gotten their brooms into their hands, though most had just simply picked them up while the flying instructor's back was turned.

"Now, on the count of three, I want each of you to take off. 1…2…" was all she got before Neville Longbottom began floating upwards. "Longbottom! Get down here at once!" she screeched, but it was obvious that Neville couldn't come down.

Neville's broom floated steadily upwards until he was up at least 50 feet. The broom came to an abrupt stop, and Neville was thrown off, most likely to his death. Percy couldn't stand to watch as one of his friends died. He covered his eyes and hoped for the best. He felt a swoosh next to him, but he gave it little regard.

A collective gasp from his peers caused him to look up and see Harry swooping in to catch Neville from his death. A cheer resonated from the Gryffindors, followed by a groan from most of Slytherin.

Harry brought the whimpering Neville down to the ground. "Excellent job, Mr. Potter," exclaimed Madam Hooch. "That's my boy," said Professor Potter, who was giving Harry a standing ovation.

Madam Hooch investigated Neville with a stern eye. "There isn't any physical damage, but I'm going to send you to Madam Pomfrey, anyways. A good calming draught would do you some good. And Harry, why don't you and father escort him there? I'm sure the two of you have some things to discuss," she finished, with a wink towards Professor Potter.

Just after they had left, a fifth year girl ran up to the group. "Madam Pomfrey! There has been an accident at the Quidditch pitch!" the girl said in a rush. The girl turned around and rushed off in the direction of the pitch.

Madam Hooch turned to them, "If I see anyone off the ground, you will be out of Hogwarts before you can say, "broomstick!" Do I make myself clear?" The crowd of students replied, "Yes ma'am!"

"Professor Black," Madam Hooch said, trying to wake the snoring man. With a sigh, she pulled out her wand and cast, "Aculeus!" The result was instantaneous. Professor Black was on his feet in a second. "I have matters to attend to, Black. Watch the children and make sure they don't fly off, or the next stinging hex won't be so nice," she said threateningly.

She walked away quickly towards the Quidditch pitch. As soon as she was out of sight, Percy's father promptly went back to sleep. Percy sighed. His father was an idiot, and apparently suicidal as well.

"Look, the dunderhead's balls, I mean ball finally dropped," Malfoy said, bringing Percy's attention to him. The Slytherins laughed at the comment, but most of the Gryffindors scoffed at the sorrowful excuse of a joke.

"Don't act like your balls have dropped, Malfoy," Lavender Brown said condescendingly. "Well, why don't we go test that," Malfoy said, with a wink towards her. Lavender scoffed, "Never you pompous ass!" This caused most of Gryffindor to laugh, and even a few Slytherins as well.

Malfoy scowled before picking up the discarded item. "Maybe, I should smash it. The idiot probably won't remember he had a remembrall!" Malfoy started carelessly throwing the object into the air.

'Who does this guy think he is?' Percy pondered. 'Somebody needs to put him in his place.'

"Give it here, Malfoy!" Percy called out. "Or what, Black?" he challenged. Percy started his march towards him, only to be stopped when he was a few feet away by, "I can't make it that easy, can I now?" As if a response to his own question, Malfoy took off into the sky, with perfect control.

Percy began to mount his broom when Hermione came up beside him. "What are you doing? You don't even know…" She was cut off, as Percy took off after Malfoy into the air. "What an idiot," he heard her say, before concentrating solely on Malfoy. "Give it here, Malfoy, or I won't hesitate to knock you off your broom," Percy demanded.

"I don't think so," he said, before throwing the remembrall as far as he could towards the castle. Percy didn't even think, as he shot after the ball with speeds that would rival a bullet's. Everything just seemed to come to him naturally as he flew.

At the speed the ball was going, it was going to smash into the wall of the castle before Percy could reach it. He put on an impressive burst of speed, blasting straight toward the castle wall. As he reached it, he simultaneously slowed down and turned around, putting himself in the perfect position to catch the flying object. Percy caught the ball easily, and drifted steadily to the ground, while he checked the ball's condition.

He was met my crowd of cheering Gryffindors, and landed in the middle of them. Percy immediately blushed and put his head down because of the attention. It was about this time that Professor McGonagall rushed through the throng of students to the perpetrator. "Mr. Black!" Percy heard this and turned around, only to become white in the face when he saw the Headmistress towering above him.

"What happened to keeping both feet on the ground?" she asked rhetorically.

"But Headmistress McGonagall…" Lavender Brown started, but was cut off by a stern look from said Headmistress.

"It was that pompous brat's fault!" Ron Weasley cried indignantly.

"Be that as it may, you must come with me, Perseus," she said. Percy sighed and followed the Headmistress most likely to the Headmaster's office.

'I didn't even last a week. What will my dad say? What if he sends me back to the Dursleys?' Percy thought, with mounting apprehension.

So naturally, Percy was surprised when they came to a stop outside the Charms classroom. The Headmistress opened the door and stepped into the classroom. "Professor Flitwick, can I borrow Wood for a moment?"

The next month passed by quickly. Percy was still integrating his secret trainings with Wood, which were a secret from even those on the Gryffindor team, and doing his regular school work.

The Gryffindor trio did all their homework together still, but with both of the boy's practices, Hermione would usually just do her homework earlier and help the boys with their's.

Percy really enjoyed Quidditch, though it was a rough sport. Percy found catching the snitch was like second nature to him.

He didn't yet have a broom of his own, but he planned on a visit to Diagon Alley on Halloween. The only people who even knew of his involvement as the Gryffindor seeker, was comprised of: Headmistress McGonagall, Wood and himself, though he assumed Dumbledore also knew.

Soon it was Halloween, and Percy woke up to sunlight peaking through the majestic glass of the castle. He had just begun to do his morning stretch, when a light tapping began on the glass. Percy turned to see Talon glaring at him through the window.

Since they had arrived at Hogwarts, Percy would make visits to the owlery to play with his familiar. They had warmed up to each other, though Talon's attitude remained.

Percy quietly climbed off the bed, and padded over to the window next to Harry's and his' bunk. After opening the window, Talon flew in with a parcel shaped suspiciously like a broomstick.

"Hello, Talon. What's that you've got?" Percy whispered. _Open your damn eyes, Percy! What do you think I've got? It's obviously not a fat, juicy rat is it? _Percy couldn't help but chuckle.

"Who sent it?" Percy asked, as he eagerly unwrapped the parcel. _I can't say. She was an older lady, I think. _

Percy finished unwrapping the parcel, and looked in with delight. Percy was forced to rub his eyes, to see if he was seeing correctly. A Nimbus 2000 lay in the opened package.

Percy stared at it for a good 5 minutes before his brain started to reboot. It was then that Percy noticed a note under the broom. Percy picked up the magnificent broom with the upmost care, and laid it carefully on the floor. The note read:

_Dear Perseus_

_I know you'll do the Gryffindor team proud tomorrow out on the Quidditch pitch. Just to make sure, I thought I'd give you a little present. Do Gryffindor proud, Black._

_From,_

_A friend_

_P.S. - Don't forget to hide the broom till the game._

'Huh, it says a friend. Could it have been one of my friends that sent this? But didn't Talon say that he got it from an older lady?' Percy thought.

Percy's day started out with him jogging down to the Quidditch pitch to drop off his broom. He was ten forced to sprint back to the great hall, to avoid suspicion from his friends.

Though today was a B-Day, the schedule had been messed with for the Halloween feast. Instead of having lunch between 12 and 1, they would have Charms.

The day started off normal, at least until Charms. Hermione was nice enough to try to help Ronald Weasley cast Wingardium Leviosa, the levitation charm.

Ron, as he liked to be called, was rude, idiotic and to put it lightly, disgusting. He only proved this more so after class. He rudely claimed that she had no friends. Harry was quick to deck him in the face, but the damage had already been done. Hermione ran away crying to an unknown destination.

Percy and Harry looked for her in between classes, but they weren't keen on skipping classes, and were forced to give up their search. They concluded she wouldn't miss the feast, so they'd see her there.

"There's a troll loose in the dungeons! Just thought you'd like to know," said Professor Quirrell before quickly passing out on the floor of the great hall. Pandemonium swept the hall in a heartbeat.

"Silence!" Dumbledore said, quieting the panicking students of whom some where already out of the door. "Prefects, escort the students to your respective common rooms. No one is to leave for any reason. Teachers follow me into the dungeons," Dumbledore ordered.

Percy walked beside Harry and Neville all the way to the stairs before a thought hit him. He grabbed Harry by the shoulders, who in turn yelped in surprise. "Hermione doesn't know about the troll!" Percy nearly shouted.

Harry immediately understood. "But where is she at?" Harry asked. "She wasn't at the feast, and this castle is huge! We'll never find her!" Harry said exasperated. "I…I know where she is," Neville said, with an unsure voice.

Both Percy and Harry rounded on him. "Where?" they asked simultaneously. "The first floor girls' lavatory…" Neville said. They were off before he could finish the sentence. 'That's awful close to the dungeons,' Neville thought. 'Should I follow?' he pondered before realizing he was all alone in a school that was currently infested with a troll. He raced to the Gryffindor common room.

_Smash! _Daphne watched as the stall next to her exploded with the impact from the club. She rolled out of the way to avoid another swing by the troll, pulling a frantic Hermione down with her. 'How do I get myself into these situations?' Daphne pondered.

The day started out like any other. She had gone to her classes, whilst being followed around by Davis. Despite the obvious motives, the girl was rather nice to be around, though Daphne would never admit it. She was always smiling and happy, and she was much better than the other Slytherin girls like Bulstrode.

She had talked to Percy through their 5th and 6th classes, and she still had a smile from one of his comments. He had called her beautiful, then immediately mumbled, "Sorry", and shied away. Daphne thought the exchange was cute.

However, their conversation had turned a little sadder when Percy mentioned Hermione. Apparently, the brunette had run crying into a bathroom from the charms room. The closest bathroom was the first floor.

As soon as 6th ended, and the rest of the school rushed to the great hall, Daphne went to the bathroom to find Hermione.

"Hermione! Are you in here?" Daphne called. "Go away!" Hermione shouted in reply. Daphne sighed sadly. She couldn't blame Hermione for the way she was acting; she would do the same in that position.

Daphne walked towards the stall that held her crying friend. "Hermione, come out of there. You'll feel better if you talk with a friend," Daphne said, trying to coax Hermione out of her hiding spot.

"You heard what Weasley said. I have no friends!" Daphne had to hold back her anger at that comment. "You know that's not true, Hermione! Harry and Percy are your friends, and I hope you consider me to be one, as well," Daphne said.

Hermione opened the stall. Her eyes were brimmed with red. She lunged at Daphne and brought her into a friendly hug. Daphne was about to scold her about saying that she had no friends, when the door slammed open.

Hermione looked at the intruder only to scream. Daphne looked curiously at the intruder as well, only to nearly faint of fear. In the doorway, stood a fully grown mountain troll and he didn't look happy to see them.

This was how Daphne now found herself dodging club swings in a limited space. She literally had to throw Hermione under the sink, but she herself wasn't fast enough. The club struck her leg like a train. Daphne screamed out in pain as her right leg was broken.

Daphne looked up into the trolls eyes, and knew this was it. There wouldn't be another year at Hogwarts. There wouldn't be a position as Lady Greengrass in the Wizengamot. And most importantly, there wouldn't be a husband to come home to everyday after work.

The club rocketed down towards her head. 'I didn't even get to say goodbye to him,' she thought sadly. Just as the club was about to hit her head, a voice cried out, "Diffindo!"

Percy and Harry arrived just in time to see the troll very nearly crush Daphne's leg. The troll reared out to strike again, just as Percy was pulling out his wand. "Diffindo!" he cried out, hoping to bring the troll's attention to him.

A barely distinguishable gash opened on the troll's back. The troll turned around to face its attacker. 'Damn! Trolls are resistant to magic," Percy mentally slapped himself. "Excellent work, Perce! You've drawn its attention. What's next in your brilliant plan?" Harry said.

Though the timing was less than perfect, Percy couldn't help but laugh. The troll chose that moment to charge. It was upon them in an instant, and Percy had just enough time to hear Daphne scream before he was smashed through a wall into the corridor.

Percy struggled to get up. Fortunately, he was magical or he would definitely be dead. He was pretty sure Harry had gotten hit as well, and jumped up to get back into the lavatory to fight the troll. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view the troll charged out after Percy.

'Shit!' Percy thought, as he began backing up while casting his arsenal of Bombarda, Diffindo and Incendio at the advancing troll. 'I might as well be pissing in the wind, for all the good this is doing,' Percy thought.

By this point, he had arrived at the base of the main staircase. He ran up the stairs, quickly followed by the troll, and was forced to roll at the top of that particular staircase, to dodge the troll's club.

The troll missed though the resulting shake from the impact threw Percy off balance. Percy staggered to his feet. The troll had him cornered. The only way out was down. That gave Percy an idea. It was a terribly stupid idea, but one that might just work.

The troll gave a shout as he began his charge. Percy charged the troll as well, and the distance quickly dissipated. "Accio!" Percy yelled. The summoning charm better by using it on an object that weighted less than you did. The troll weighted a hell of a lot more than Percy. The result was that Percy went flying at the troll, who lost his balance on impact. Both bodies fell the 60 feet distance to the floor.

**A/N- Oh, I almost forgot. All the characters except for Perseus and Professor Winston are mine. All those other professors are all technically canon, and J.K. even considered using Professor Hobday as the student's fifth year DADA teacher.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N- Well, this entire week was a disaster. I had to work, and had almost no time at all to work on this. No promises about the next chapter coming out tomorrow, but I'll try. So yea, this chapter is about the first Quidditch match. Just 3 more chapters and then that's the end of this fanfic. I'll probably take a one week break before I start on the second one. Anyways, the fanfic of the week is **_**Make a Wish**_** by Rorschach's Blot. **

**Chapter 8- Game time**

_November 1, 1991_

Everything hurt. That's all he could think as he tried to open his eyes. Percy succeeded in his task, and took in his surroundings. He was lying on a soft bed with white sheets and a white comforter. Continuing his analysis, he discovered the white curtains that covered the rest of the room from his sight.

Percy could faintly hear muffled talking on the other side of the curtains. He strained to hear, and was surprised when the voices became much clearer.

"He can't possibly play today," someone said, sounding aghast. "Gryffindor needs him, though! He's their only seeker!" Percy was pretty sure the last voice sounded like the Headmistress.

"He's lucky to be alive and you're in here trying to get him to play that ghastly sport! I won't allow it!" The unknown person said. "Well, you are the Master Healer here, and if you say he can't play, then we will obey your wishes." It was obvious that the speaker of the highly articulated sentence was the Headmaster.

"That's what I thought!" said the voice that Percy had determined was Madam Pomfrey. "I don't think we are alone in this conversation anymore," Dumbledore said. Percy didn't have any time to react, before the curtains were flung open.

Percy lay their as if a deer caught in the headlights. He put his head down. "Sorry sir. I I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Dumbledore stared at him for a minute, and Percy felt a pressure in his mind. When Dumbledore looked away, the pressure ended. With the pain Percy was feeling, he thought nothing of the pressure.

"It's quite alright my boy. You did give us quite a scare last night, though. Whatever were you thinking?" Dumbledore asked. Percy hadn't even thought about why he was here or what he had done. The events of last night slammed into his conscience. "Is Daphne okay?" Percy blurted out.

"Only thanks to you," a voice to his right said. Percy turned and looked to his right were he saw the topic of his sentence lying on the bed. "Daph!" he shouted. "Is your leg okay?"

Daphne turned on her side to face him, and winced as she moved her leg. "I'm fine. They've already set the bone back into place. I won't be able to walk on my leg for a couple of days, but I'll be perfectly fine after that. The real question though is, 'How are you feeling?'"

Percy shrugged and answered, "I'm fine." Daphne glared at him. "Don't lie!" she said with a fire in her eyes. "Why did you come after the troll," she snarled.

Percy was definitely confused by the change of behavior. "Well I…" Percy began to answer before he was cut off by a furious Daphne. "That was the stupidest thing you could've done! And then you chase after the damn troll…"

"Well, it actually came after..." Percy started, but he was cut off again by the blonde beauty. "You shouldn't have cast that Diffindo at the troll!" Daphne raged.

Percy was starting to get mad, an emotion he wasn't used to. "If I hadn't have casted it, you'd be dead!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't have casted it then!" Daphne snarled.

Percy had been glaring at her, but the glare had dissipated at her last sentence. Had he been aware of his surroundings, he would've noticed the shocked expressions of the adults in the room.

"I couldn't ever let that happen, Daphne," Percy said quietly. "I wouldn't ever be able to live with myself if that happened and I could've stopped it."

Tears streaked down Daphne's face. "I didn't mean it like that, Percy," she cried. She jumped out of bed, despite her injury and proceeded to hug Percy. Percy smiled and said, whilst brushing some hair off of Daphne's face, "No need to apologize. Sometimes you've just got to let it out," Percy said.

Two people clearing their throats reminded the two quasi-teens that they were not alone. Percy turned to find his father and Headmaster staring at them. Percy rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Uhm…Sorry?"

"Well, Mrs. Greengrass, if you could kindly get out of Percy's bed, then we can finish our discussion," Dumbledore said, with mirth in his eyes.

Daphne scrambled back to her bed, just as quick as she had left it. Percy looked up at his father to see his face alight with a huge grin. "At this rate, you'll have more girls than even I did, Perce!"

Dumbledore interjected before that particular conversation could begin. "What exactly happened last night, Percy?" Percy began to fill in the occupants of the room of the events of last night.

"What were you thinking?" his father asked after he was finished. Percy's eyes narrowed, "I wasn't just about to leave them, dad!"

The argument was obviously about to get out of control. "What's done is done," Dumbledore said, ending the disagreement. "Now, Professor Black, I believe you have classes to teach today."

His father understood the underlying message and began to leave the room before turning back to Percy and saying, "Just know I want you to be safe, Percy. Remember that."

"Thanks, dad," Percy said with tears forming in his eyes. It still blew his mind to have someone who actually took care of him.

His father left the room, leaving Dumbledore to continue his conversation with Percy. "Well, Mr. Black, I'm sorry to say that your injuries will keep you from playing Quidditch today."

"But Professor…" Percy began before a look from Madam Pomfrey silenced him. "You'll be doing no such activities for the entire week if I can help it Mr. Black," she said.

Percy sighed, presumedly resigning to his fate. It was enough for the adults, at least as they left to get back to their duties.

Percy and Daphne talked for most of the day. Percy was quick to ask how Harry and Hermione were, and was relieved to hear that other than a few scrapes and cuts, they had made it out of the ordeal unscathed.

During lunch, Percy and Daphne had to stay in bed, so they wouldn't be able to see neither Harry not Hermione. Fortunately, the other two of the quartet came to visit them, despite it being the lunch hour.

"Percy!" Hermione shouted and jumped on the bed to hug him. The force of the hug soon threatened to crush Percy. "Hermione…" he managed to choke out. "Need air!"

Hermione blushed before letting go, but remained on his bed. "Thanks for saving me. I'm sorry I put you in danger because I was stupid," Hermione began before she was stopped by Percy's finger on her lips.

"Don't apologize, Hermione. You had every right to act the way you did. If it's anyone's fault, it's that Weasley git's!" Percy said firmly.

* * *

"Thank you," Hermione whispered. Neither saw the irritated glare directed at Hermione from only a few feet away.

It wasn't until Harry and Hermione left to go to their 4th class, that Percy finally started eating. It was only a meagre bowl of soup, but it was enough for Percy.

His and Daphne's conversations continued after lunch. However, it wasn't long till they had run out of things to talk about. Both relaxed into a companionable silence.

Therefore, it seemed almost out of the blue, when Daphne suddenly spoke up. "You and Hermione sure are getting along well," she said. Percy, oblivious to Daphne's implications said, "We do spend quite a lot of time together. I try to spend as much time as possible with her."

Daphne nodded her head, completely misinterpreting what Percy had said. New conversations began between the two, but the vigor of the conversation seemed to have left.

It was 4 o'clock before the two of them saw Madam Pomfrey again. "Mrs. Greengrass," she said to get Daphne's attention. "You may go to the Quidditch match, that is, if you want to."

Percy jumped up with a triumphant yell. "Did I say your name as well, Mr. Black? I didn't think so! So sit down and quiet yourself!" Madam Pomfrey said.

Percy was quick to obey, though it included an indignant, "Aw!"

Madam Pomfrey gave him a stern look before bringing her attention to Daphne. "You'll need crutches though, dearie. We can't have you over exert yourself, can we?"

Madam Pomfrey conjured crutches out of thin air. "Here you are, sweetie. Let me help you up," Madam Pomfrey cooed over Daphne.

Once Daphne was in her crutches, Madam Pomfrey rounded on him. "You will stay in bed until we are back. If you fail to obey this, the consequences will be grave," she warned.

Madam Pomfrey transfigured the curtains into steel walls with a flick of her wand. Despite the muffled sound on the other side of the walls, Percy could make out the school healer saying, "Have fun, honey!"

"Wretch," Percy said. Steel walls weren't going to keep him from the first Quidditch match of the season. Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey had forgotten his wand. Grabbing it, he quickly cast Reducto, only to be blown back against the wall.

'Bad idea,' he thought. Percy continued to cast spells against the walls, despite the fact that the damage being done was minimal. Percy sighed, frustrated by the lack of damage.

Percy looked around the enclosed space to see if he could find something useful. The enclosed space held a bed, a nightstand with a lamp and a window.

Percy decided to lie down and think about it. Percy had only closed his eyes for second before they shot open. "The window!" he shouted.

Within the minute, Percy had blasted out the window. 'Perfect,' Percy thought excitedly. He was just a jump, followed by an Arresto Momentum away from the Quidditch match.

* * *

Percy rushed into the waiting area, where the players readied themselves before matches. "Perce, what are you doing here?" Percy looked up to see Harry and the rest of the Quidditch team staring at him.

"I'm the seeker," Percy said, intimidated by the team. "You didn't have to come today, Percy. But since you're here, your jersey is over there," Wood said.

"Blimey, Percy, so this is what you've been doing every night. To be honest, I thought you were getting into the dark arts or something," Harry said nervously. Percy looked at him quizzically and asked, "What have I done to suggest that?"

"It's just you've been gone a lot…" Harry started before he was stopped by an enraged Percy. "It's because I'm a Black, isn't it?"

"Well, Perce, I mean…" Harry said. "Forget about it, Harry," Percy said with a smile. He wasn't about to get mad at his best friend over a stupid misunderstanding. "Thanks, Perce!" Harry said.

"Hurry up over there, you lot!" Wood yelled. "The game is about to start." Outside, the Headmaster could be heard speaking to the crowd. "We've trained for this. Everybody do their duty. We can't lose to Slytherin," Wood said.

"No pressure, right, Perce?" Harry asked. "Not much at all," Percy answered. To say Percy was nervous was an understatement. 'What if I'm not good enough?' Percy wondered. He had no time to think on it, as at that time, the doors opened, and the teams flew onto the field.

Percy moved to the rear of the formation, the seeker's spot. He looked for Deputy Headmistress McGonagall. He had been thinking of who sent him the broom, and she seemed like the most logical benefactor.

However, when he looked over he noticed she wore a confused look on her face. While it could be that he was out here playing, while he was supposed to be in the hospital room.

The announcer began calling out the team names. "On the Gryffindor team, we have Potter, Bell, Johnson, Weasley, Weasley, Wood and Black. I hope Gryffindor knows what they're doing. Two first years on the team, and one is the seeker."

"On the Slytherin side, we have Flint, Pucey, Montague, Bole, Derrick, Bletchley and Higgs! Slytherin definitely has the advantage in experience in this game. Does Gryffindor have some kind of trick up their sleeve?"

Percy took his position, slightly above the chasers and beaters, who made a circle above the box which held the balls. In front of him was Higgs, a slender 6th year with black hair. Higgs grinned at him maliciously. "You should be worried, Black. I'm going to crush every bone in your body," he said, enunciating every syllable.

Percy shivered because of the smile Higgs was giving him. Scary didn't seem to be enough to describe it.

Madam Hooch walked over to the Quidditch case. "Now, I want a clean game. Play nice," she said, but it didn't seem to leave an impression with either team.

"Begin!" she yelled, and kicked the box, immediately sending all 4 balls flying into the air.

Percy watched as the chasers literally slammed each other to near unconsciousness, going after the quaffle. After a fierce fight, which lasted a minute, Harry managed to gain control of it, and charged straight through their defenses.

The other chasers quickly disengaged, and chased after Harry. Angelina Johnson lined up a pass, giving her the perfect shot at the goal. Harry was quick to pass it, and made Gryffindor's first point of the day possible.

Cheers erupted from the Gryffs, Puffs and most of the Claws, all eager to see Slytherin put down.

Percy realized he'd been sitting there for several minutes doing nothing. He needed to get to better vantage point. He flew straight up till he was surrounding by clouds. He closed his eyes to concentrate, and pushed his magic out to 'feel' for the snitch.

It had taken nearly 30 minutes, but he finally found the snitch. 'Well, time to see if this will actually work,' he thought ecstatically. Without another thought, he dived of his broom.

* * *

The game had started out so well. He had managed to set up the first goal of the game. He even managed to score a few more of his own, before the bloody Slytherins cheated.

Flint stole the bat from one of his beaters, and got a good hit on Wood, knocking him out. That's why the game had turned so suddenly against the Gryffindor team, and hope for a Gryffindor victory was rapidly diminishing.

The game was already 110-40 in Slytherin's favor.

"I'm not giving up that easily to those cheating bastards!" Harry yelled, as he intercepted the Quaffle. He put on a burst of speed, barely dodging a bludger aimed for his head.

He slammed straight into the enemy keeper; knocking both of them off balance, but not before Harry slammed the Quaffle through the goal.

A cheer pierced the relative silence that hung in the air, prior to the anticipated goal. Even though it was just a small victory, it was the best bit of hope since Wood was taken out.

As Harry flew back down the field, trying to block the Slytherin's advance, a thought hit him as he dodged another bludger, 'Where in the hell is Percy? I haven't seen him since the beginning of the match!'

* * *

Suddenly, a collective gasp came up from the audience with shouts of, "Up there!" Harry looked up to see not only see someone falling through the sky, but that person was his half-brother. 'Merlin's balls! Is he mental?'

Hermione was ecstatic to see that Gryffindor had taken an early lead. She now knew why they had chosen Harry to be a chaser, he was absolutely brilliant.

She couldn't help but feel guilty about condemning Percy so quickly. The handsome boy had obviously been using his time to train as a seeker.

Speaking of Percy, he had suddenly just flown up into the clouds. 'Surely the snitch doesn't go up that high?' The question quickly brought on a lust to know, and Hermione proceeded to open the book about Quidditch that she had brought.

It took her a good 30 minutes to read all the information about the snitch. During which, she watched the game progress. The game quickly turned south after Wood fell, and Slytherin was quick to strike back.

Harry managed to score a goal, but it seemed all for not at this point of the game. Suddenly, she heard the the announcer speak, "It looks like Higgs has spotted the snitch. It looks like it's over for… What the hell is that?"

"Jordan! Language!" McGonagall screeched, but she also seemed curious about the falling object. Hermione took a closer look at it causing her to scream. That object was none other than Percy.

* * *

Dumbledore was royally pissed off. Despite his best efforts, Slytherin was winning the match. He had been using a compulsion here and there, as well as the occasional gust of wind, to aid Gryffindor, yet they were still losing.

Then Black pulled this suicide shit. He had seen the 'plan' when he had used legilimency on the Black heir this morning. Dumbledore was planning to use him as a martyr so Harry and Voldemort would wipe each other out. 'I guess it will be the Granger girl then. It's a shame; she'd really be a miracle worker for society.'

* * *

Daphne was divided. 2 of her best friends were on the Gryffindor team, but she couldn't help but feel some pride for her house, as they continued to decimate the Gryffs.

Of course, the methods the Slytherin's were using weren't exactly nice, but at least they were about to pull a landslide victory. She was sure that the game was over when Higgs spotted the snitch, but screams from the crowd caused her to look up.

He was falling. The one male in the world who meant more to her than her father was about to die. "PERCY!"

* * *

The feeling of the wind whipping against his hair felt awesome. No wonder the wizarding world was so into Quidditch. He opened his eyes to see the ground getting a little to close for comfort.

But his plan had worked. He had distracted the Slytherins, and the snitch was perfectly lined up with his path of descent.

He heard his name called somewhere to the left of him. Looking in that direction, he found Daphne looking at him with an expression of sheer fear. To ease her worries, he smiled and winked at her.

Apparently, nobody had noticed his broom falling, or they wouldn't be so worried. He'd been planning this for days, he wasn't going to go and kill himself after only 3 months in the wizarding world.

His broom was moving faster than he was, and it came up beside him. He quickly grabbed hold, and turned the broom up, saving him from being a mere splat on the field. He instinctively reached his hand out, and felt the snitch just barely pass through his fingers.

'Dammit, I miscalculated!' Percy went through his calculations again to see how he possibly went wrong. 'That gust of wind!' he thought alarmed. 'Couldn't do a thing about it.'

Percy saw a glimpse of gold next to his teammate, Johnson. The game seemed to have taken a pause. His distraction had worked a little to well; the Gryffs weren't attacking either, just staring at him as if he were mental.

He shot after the snitch with a shot of, "Don't mind me, guys, stick it to 'em." And with that the game was off again. Higgs quickly closed in beside Percy, and proceeded to try to slam Percy off his broom.

Percy moved downwards, but Higgs followed him. This guy was just stalling him from getting the snitch. Percy sighed while thinking, 'Dumb-ass!' Percy stopped immediately, while Higgs, who was focused entirely on Percy, slammed into one of the stands.

Unfortunately, Higgs was quick to get back up, though it didn't look like he'd be joining the fray any time soon. That was extremely fortunate because at that moment, Percy's broom began to sway back and forth.

The broom began swaying so fast that Percy slid off the broom. Only because of his quick reflexes was he able to grab hold of the broom again.

Looking at the end of the broom, he saw a shining golden mark that looked like rune. 'Bloody hell! I forgot to check if it was even okay to fly! My dad will have my head for this…At least, what's left after Madam Pomfrey's done with me.'

He was losing his grip fast. If he didn't do something quick, he was going to fall at least 250 feet, to his death. He did the only thing he thought of, he pressed the rune looking thing.

Within the second, the broom quit shaking. Percy jumped back in the broom as if it were a horse. Just in time to, as the speck of gold flew just barely into sight.

Percy was quick to get moving, but Higgs was faster. Percy was able to keep up with Higgs, but that was all. Higgs cut him off every time Percy tried to pass, and Higgs was cornering the snitch.

Percy heard shouts of joy come up from the Gryffindor side, and his eyes widened when he saw that the Gryff chasers had managed to even up the score in the few minutes since his nearly cataclysmic fall. It was 110-110. All that mattered now was which team caught the snitch. It definitely wasn't looking good for Gryffindor right now.

Higgs started to slow down fast, meaning that he was about to catch the snitch. A bit of brilliance hit Percy in that moment. 'What the hell have I got to loose at this point?'

So Percy jumped, which he turned into a front flip. Higgs was going so slow trying to catch the pesky snitch, which was taunting him in front of his face, by dodging his grabs that he didn't notice what was happening until his eyes looked up.

Percy was going completely on instinct now. His hand shot forward, and he felt his fingers curl around the elusive snitch. Higgs was going so slow, that when Percy put pressure on his legs, causing him to stand up correctly, feet towards the ground.

At 3 kph, Higgs wasn't going anywhere, and Percy managed to get out of the way, without being pummeled. Fortunately, his broom was right below Higgs, and he landed on it perfectly.

It wasn't until now that Percy heard the cheers, and slowly floated to the ground amongst a crowd of Gryffindors. He dismounted his broom, and was nearly run over by the mass of people trying to congratulate him.

There was only one person he wanted to see, and she was staring at him with a smile on her face. He turned and walked towards her, the screams of the ground became background noise, as he focused solely on her.

"Hey Daph," Percy said, drinking in her eyes. "Percy," was all she said. Percy felt his head moving forward for some reason. He was nearing her face, when a force hit him on his cheek, throwing him to the ground.

"What the hell was that? Dropping from the sky! Who the hell does that?" Daphne ranted. Percy couldn't help but give a sigh of relief, that she wasn't mad that he had almost kissed her.

**A/N- So I hope you liked it. I didn't spend as much time on it as I usually do, so it probably wasn't the greatest, but it was difficult for me to write. Oh, and I hope you understood that McGonagall did not give Percy the broom. Happy belated Easter!**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N- So now we start into the Chamber of Secrets story, kind of.**

**And I should have put this in like in the 1****st**** chapter, but if you do the math, Percy is like 10 and a half. So I'm just going to make it so that if you turn 11 during that year, then you can go to Hogwarts. And then we'll just assume that most magicals are born during the summer months. **

**I know I haven't been keeping to schedule as far as uploading goes, and that's because I simply haven't had the time. EOCT's are coming up soon, and my teachers just keep on piling on the work. So until summer, I'll only be able to upload when I can. Read and Review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, obviously.**

* * *

**Chapter 9- Glowing Yellow Eyes**

_November 3__rd__, 1991_

The past two days had been hell for Percy. Well, besides talking to Daphne and playing Quidditch, it hadn't been very fun. As soon as the field was cleared, Pomfrey stomped over to him. According to her, he had gotten off lucky.

If she thought cleaning the bathrooms for Filch was lucky, then that woman truly was insane. His father and Harry's had already come by to laugh at his predicament, much to Percy's chagrin.

Good thing that Dumbledore had been lenient, and had only given him two days of detention, though naturally he would have loved to have spent those days with his fellow students.

Even a pissed off Daphne was better company than a toothbrush. The Slytherin girl had made a point that she did not want to talk to Percy after him quote, 'Trying to kill himself.' He had the whole thing planned out, and it partially worked.

If it hadn't been for that damn gust of wind or for his broom being cursed, he probably would've got the snitch without having to cut it so close.

"Why won't you talk to me, cutie-pie?" Percy couldn't help but sigh. Myrtle had been trying to get his attention for the better part of the two days. At first, Percy had been friendly, but she was extremely annoying.

"You know, if you just kill yourself, we could live here together for all eternity!" she said giggling madly. Percy tried to glare her down, but it only seemed to amuse her more.

A voice took him away from his glare, "You're done, boy." Percy looked at his watch quizzically. It wasn't even curfew yet. Filch seemed to notice his confused look and said, "If you're like your father, then I'll be seeing you a lot more." Percy glared at him before following Filch towards Dumbledore's office, to confirm his detention.

He nearly bumped into Professor Quirrell, who was rushing towards the bathroom for some reason. "Ex-excuse me, Mr. Black," he said. Percy smiled. He quite liked Professor Quirrell. His scar had started to hurt as soon Quirrell had touched him, so his smile looked more like a grimace. Percy and Filch continued their trek to the Headmaster's office in silence.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat contemplating in his office. Voldemort was making his first move, and he had to make a decision: Should he let Voldemort do as he pleased, and send Harry to stop him, or should he put a stop to it himself.

He had of course, known that Quirrell was the vessel of Voldemort. It was obvious to anyone who looked. The man had decided to take a year long trip to Albania, and had come back with a vicious stutter.

The man had had only a slight stutter when he left; Dumbledore would know, as he had known Quirrell for years.

One of the portraits came to life with Phineas Black sitting inside it. "The Squib and my great-great-grandson have arrived, Albus." He walked out of sight without another word. Albus sighed. Phineas was not happy with his plan; it was the Black family that Dumbledore was messing with.

Albus sighed. 'Why can't he just understand? I don't want it to be like this, it's for the greater good.'

His musing was ended by a knock on his door. "Come in," Dumbledore replied. Just as the portrait had said, Perseus and Filch were here. This brought his thoughts to other places.

He had been trying to talk to Lily Potter, since the beginning of the year. Being the Headmaster, he had loads of work to do, and that left little time for social interactions. No, he hadn't just forgotten that Lily was apparently pureblood.

He just hadn't the time to confront her. It didn't help that every time he did try to talk to her, she made up an excuse for not being able to talk at the moment. Dumbledore wasn't stupid; he was the Supreme Mugwump, of course.

Dumbledore opened his eyes, as he realized that he had been sitting there in his revelry for 3 minutes, and he had guests in the room. "Uhhm…Dumbledore, sir?" A curious Filch asked.

Dumbledore seemed to ignore Filch and turned to Percy, "Ah, so my boy, are you done with your detentions." "I think so, sir," Percy answered, looking at Filch for confirmation. Filch grunted in response.

"Well then you are dismissed." Percy turned to leave, but was stopped when he was near the door by Dumbledore saying, "Oh, and if you see Professor Evans, tell her I need to see her." "Absolutely, sir," Percy answered.

* * *

Percy let himself out of the Headmaster's office. 'Even if I do see mum, I doubt she'd let me talk to her,' he mused. He had thought that maybe time would make her notice him. It wasn't working out so well.

He was making his way towards Gryffindor tower, by way of the main staircase. As he was passing the second floor bathroom, he heard noises inside. Deciding against checking it, being that last time he made a decision to go nosing around, it hadn't worked out so well.

He was on the stairs, moving past the entrance to the third floor, when he heard the voice. '_Kill, kill, kill!_'

Percy dashed off in the direction of the chilling voice. 'Nobody's dying if I have a choice in the matter!' he thought ferociously. It didn't take a genius to realize that he was running in the direction he had come from. The voice couldn't be after him, as it was traveling in the opposite direction.

He had just passed the second floor lavatories, when he ran into Filch's cat, lying seemingly dead on the ground. Percy gasped and looked around frantically for enemies. He found none, but he wasn't about to let his guard down.

"Mrs. Norris?" Filch was calling from down the hallway. 'If I'm found here, Filch will think I did it. I've got to get out of here!' Percy turned and raced back to the common room, not even stopping to catch his breath once.

He yelled the password frantically, and dived into the common room when the portrait opened. Percy sat in the floor catching his breath thinking of just how close he had been to being kicked out.

"Perce?" a questioning voice asked which could only be one person's. "Uhhm…Hey Harry," Percy said a bit sheepishly. "Would you like to explain why you just dove into the common room like Morgana herself was after you?"

"Uhh, I was just taking a leisurely walk around the castle." 'Worth a shot,' he thought.

"Riiight," came from the mouth of their mutual brunette friend. My walking pace is akin to that of a speeding bullet as well."

'I have to tell them. All of us could be endangered by…whatever just happened.' Looking around, Percy noticed that their conversation was drawing the entire room's attention.

"I'll tell you, but let's take this some place more private." He received a nod from both Harry and Hermione, and led them up to the first year's dormitories. There were a few others milling about, but they didn't seem interested in the three newcomers.

Percy took a deep, calming breath. He was still a little flustered with his brush with suspension. "I was coming back from detention, when I heard a voice that said, "Kill, kill, kill!" I followed the voice and I saw Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, lying on the ground, possibly dead. I heard Filch coming, and I ran away as fast as I could."

Hermione let out a gasp at his story. "Percy! You could be expelled for this! You should have waited for Filch and explained the situation to him."

"But Filch might have blamed me!" he defended himself.

"You'll probably be blamed anyways! The portraits probably already told the Headmaster that they saw you running by."

"The portraits will do what…?" Percy asked, confused. "I thought you said that you had read Hogwarts, A History," she said with a sigh.

"That damn book, again," Harry whispered in his ear. Hermione seemed to ignore him. "The portraits report to the Headmaster about happenings around the school."

Fear crept back into Percy's mind. "Are-are you sure, Hermione?"

"I'm positive, Percy." Taking note of his scared expression she added, "But I'm sure the Headmaster would understand if you just explained it to him."

"Yeah, that outta work, Perce." Harry said, officially coming into the conversation for the first time. "And you need to watch your mouth, Harry," Hermione said with a glare before leaving the room.

Harry looked after her retreating form with incredulity. "How…?"

Percy chuckled, "It's like you said, girls have ears like bats."

* * *

The attack, though unwarranted, was not exactly unexpected. As the Weasley twins had said, "That cat was bound to get it eventually. With all the students she has managed to catch out of bed…"

Other than the few chickens that were killed, no other incidents occurred. Percy was soon too immersed in his schoolwork, and thought little of that night.

The day before Christmas break, the class ranks were put out. Percy and his father were ecstatic to find that he was 4th in his class, behind Hermione, Daphne and Susan Bones. His father promised him a special surprise over the break.

While most of the other kids who were going home for Christmas rode the train, Percy and Harry got to floo straight home. Percy's father, Harry's father and their mother, had all gotten off for Christmas break.

Percy spent the first four days, lounging around Grimmauld Place, as he hadn't really relaxed all school year, which was evident by his stellar grades.

Since there wasn't much to do around the house, Percy found himself exploring the neighborhood. He even played football with some of the neighborhood kids.

On Christmas Day, Percy woke up at the glorious hour of 6 o'clock, by a loud voice. Percy went to check out the noise. He wasn't in the best of moods, being woken up at 6 in the morning.

Harry was adamant that he wake his father, so that the two of them wouldn't miss out on opening their presents. Percy's eyes widened at 'presents.' "I'll get him right away!"

Percy rushed up the stairs, and basically broke down his dad's door. "Wake up! It's Christmas!" Percy's yell attracted the attention of a portrait or two, but not his yell's target. One of the portraits spoke up, "Lad, why don't you just do us all a favor, and douse him with water."

Percy flushed scarlet. It was the logical thing to do, and it hadn't even crossed his mind yet.

Within two minutes, his dad was chasing Percy downstairs while yelling obscenities for his rude awakening. "It's 6 bloody o'clock! Why could've possibly possessed you to wake me up so early?" he asked, tears literally streaming down his face.

The comical scene made Percy laugh. "It's Christmas, and we're do at the Potter's," Percy answered still laughing. His father's face immediately brightened. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" Percy followed his father into the floo, and prepared for the uncomfortable journey to Potter Manor.

* * *

Happiness wasn't even close to the emotion that Percy was feeling. Elated was a better term. He had gotten his first Christmas presents from his family. He was a little embarrassed to admit that he had started crying when his father gave him his Christmas gift from him.

Though it didn't look like anything special at first glance, it was definitely amazing. It was a map of Hogwarts with a password encryption. What was more was that it was titled _The Marauder's Map_. Percy didn't miss the glance and smirk that his father and Harry's father shared.

Harry looked to be pretty put out that he didn't get anything remotely as cool as the map, and Percy couldn't help but feel some pity for his raven-haired half-brother.

"Don't look so down, Harry. This gift will match perfectly with Percy's," said a laughing James Potter. Mr. Potter preceded to hand Harry a perfectly wrapped present. Harry opened it and gasped, almost yelling, "Is this, your invisibility cloak?"

"It was, but now, you are the rightful owner. It's not like I have any use for it anymore…" Mr. Potter was cut off by Harry throwing himself into his arms. "Thank you, thank you! I promise I'll take good care of it!"

Mr. Potter laughed, and the trading of presents continued. Percy and Harry both gave the other candy as a present, eliciting laughs from the adults. Victoria had even pitched in, and had got Percy a book on flying.

Percy was surprised to find that both Victoria and his mother were actually being civil to him. His mother didn't like him, and even though he had only been around Victoria once, she had hid from him for most of that time.

Today, his mother seemed almost happy to see him, and Victoria was being surprisingly clingy. Percy didn't mind much; in fact he enjoyed her company. She was a lot like her older brother, rambunctious and rowdy, but not overbearing.

The 6 people spent the rest of the day in each other's company. They even played a round of Quidditch together. His father had been reluctant to play, but had finally joined with a bit of coaxing.

The game was between the Potters, minus Victoria, against the Blacks and Victoria. Percy soon found out why his father had been so embarrassed about Quidditch all those months ago. He wasn't exactly the best player on the field, coupled with his slight fear of heights, made him basically inadequate on the field.

That was alright though because Percy and Victoria together was an awesome team. Victoria doubled as a chaser and a beater, whilst Percy played as a chaser and seeker. The two of them were able to guess each other's movements.

Despite these advantages, team Potter was not handicapped. The Potter males were excellent chasers, and Mr. Potter had not forgotten how he had played the role of seeker in many a game. Mrs. Potter, though not the best on a broom, was able to predict where the quaffle would be shot at, and therefore made an excellent keeper.

The game ended with a win for team Potter with a score of 400-320. Though Percy was disappointed that team Black had lost, it had been a good game, and the only reason team Potter had won was because he had been playing chaser a little too much.

* * *

The break was quick to end and Percy soon found himself back at school. Arriving back at school, news spread quickly of an attack that happened during the break. Apparently, Justin Finch-Fletchley, was attacked while he was walking around the corridors.

He was currently paralyzed in the hospital ward. Surprisingly, it had been Daphne who had told him. She seemed to have calmed down over the break, and they were once again on speaking terms.

They had only been back to days from break, and school had more or less turned back to the way it was. After Quidditch practice, Percy, Harry and Dean Thomas, their pseudo-friend who always fawned over their Quidditch skills, were walking back to Gryffindor tower.

They had left later than the others, opting to stay back and clean up. "I've got to tie my shoe," Dean said whilst dropping into a kneeling position.

"Hold up, Perce," Harry said grabbing him. Before Harry could continue, Dean called out, "I'm okay guys, go on ahead without me." Percy blinked. "Are you sure, Dean? With these attacks going on and all…"

"What can happen in just a few minutes? I'll be fine guys, though it's great that such amazing players like you care so much about me," he said, his eyes filled with a gleam.

"Uhh…Right. Ok then, see you later, Dean," Harry said.

* * *

"Dean still isn't here," Percy said, his mouth speaking his thoughts. "He probably just got lost; besides, it's only been 10 minutes since we left him," Harry said. The attempt to soothe Percy's worries failed.

"What's going on over there?" Harry asked to no one in particular. It grabbed the attention of both Percy and Hermione. Professor Potter was talking to a crowd of students by the portrait.

One of the students pointed towards them. Percy had a bad feeling that this had something to do with Dean. Professor Potter practically ran over to them. "What happened?" he asked.

The three of them were taken aback by his abrupt question. "Uhh, what do you mean, dad?" Harry asked, trying to gain some clarity on the question.

"Dean has been attacked. You two were the last ones seen with him. Explain yourselves," he answered. The formalness of the question caused the tension to rise, and Percy could see the rage building on Harry's face.

"What are you trying to accuse us of? We haven't done anything wrong, and you immediately put the blame on us!" Spittle flew out of Harry's mouth as he said these things.

Professor Potter seemed to cringe, but quickly regained his composure. It was obvious he was getting angry as well. "Just tell me what happened, and stop trying to hide it!"

Percy decided to jump in here before the father and son could make this situation any worse. "Dean told us to go on ahead, while he stayed back and tied his shoe. We came immediately back here after that."

Harry's father seemed highly skeptical of the story. Percy mentally blamed that on Harry's defensive response. 'Dumbass, what was he thinking?'

Professor Potter finally accepted Percy's explanation, but still seemed annoyed at his son. "Just stay out of trouble," he growled and stomped off.

"Who the hell does he think he is? Accusing us like that!" Harry said angrily. "Well, if you really asking…" Hermione began, but she was cut off by Harry's, "Never mind!"

Percy felt an argument growing between the two, and decided to chase down Professor Potter. He made sure he had his wand on him, before he went out.

He rushed out the portrait door, and began his hunt for Professor Potter. He didn't have to go far, as the Professor was just around the corner, grumbling about, "damn kids."

"Professor?" The transfiguration professor jumped around with his wand out. Apparently noticing that it was just his student, he let his wand arm relax. "What can I help you with, Percy?"

"I was just wondering, Professor, if you have tried reading the minds of the victims." The professor grimaced. "Yes, we have, Percy."

"And what have you guys seen?" Percy asked, suddenly excited. "All of the victim's last memories are the same. They're all of glowing, yellow eyes."

* * *

**A/N- Well, this was a hard chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it though! I'm not going to lie, I kind of forgot about Victoria. I'll have to explain that next chapter. Later guys!**


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N- Hey guys! It's been a little over a week I guess; I haven't really been keeping track of time. I had this chapter done earlier, but I couldn't post it because of internet probs. It's alright I guess, but hopefully you guys will like it. I'm already well into the last chapter, so I'll probably have it up in a few days. Thanks to all the people who followed and such. One of my favorite fanfics and the first fanfic I ever read was Vengeance from the grave by MK-ONE. It's really good, I think. Why not check it out?**

* * *

**Chapter 10- Suspicions**

_February 7, 1992_

Percy was adamant that they try to figure out who was behind the attacks. The three of them spent countless hours in the library.

It was difficult to find the time, as Percy and Harry were juggling Quidditch, class work and this new responsibility.

After the Quidditch accident, Percy's broom was uncharmed. However, the magical signature was so weak by that point that the broom's sender was still unknown.

Gryffindor was having a very successful year in Quidditch. They had won the match against Hufflepuff with relative ease, through the excellent plays of both Percy and Harry. Apparently, for the last seven years, Gryffindor's quidditch team had been little better than completely abysmal.

This was not the only front that Gryffindor was winning on. The sheer number of Hermione's correct answers in class, had shot Gryffindor so high up in points, that it was nearly impossible that they would lose the house cup this year.

Currently, the trio was seated in the library, continuing their search for the attacker. They hadn't even spotted anything close to it.

"It couldn't be an arachnid, could it?" Hermione asked sighing. "It's possible I guess, but Professor Potter didn't say anything about multiple eyes," Percy replied, eyes heavy from lack of sleep.

A few moments of silence washed over the three, before Percy asked Harry a question. "Hey, Harry. Where does Victoria stay at during the school year?"

"Well, we just leave her at home with the house elves for 9 months."

"Oh. She must get lonely then," Percy replied, feeling a bit sorry for his sister.

"Dumbass! Did you really just fall for that?" Harry asked bewildered. Percy only blinked in response. "She stays here, at Hogwarts. Have you really never seen her around the castle?" Harry asked.

"Really? I've never seen her." Harry was glaring at him as if he was playing a joke. "She stays with mum in her private room. Sometimes she comes out into the room during class…I can't believe you've never seen her."

"Well, I usually just talk to Daph during mum's class, it's not like she's teaching stuff I don't already know. But I seriously don't think I've ever seen Victoria around," Percy said, searching his mind for any instances with his sister. Unfortunately, he kept drawing a blank.

"Percy, if you're just taking the mickey out on me, I swear I'll kill you." It was obvious Harry was getting frustrated over such a simple topic.

"I stick by what I've said. I've never seen her here." A vein was now visibly seen pulsing on Harry's forehead. "She ate dinner with us 3 times, dammit!"

Percy stared at him. "No she didn't."

"Yes she did."

"No way was she there."

"Both of you, shut up before Madam Pince kicks all of us out! But yes Percy, Victoria really has eaten with us 3 times." Hermione said not looking up from her book.

Percy looked back and forth at them open mouthed. "No way had I missed her sitting with us."

The furious look Harry was giving him told Percy that he should've just left the conversation where it was at. Fortunately, he was saved as Daphne chose that minute to show up.

"Hey guys. Any luck so far?" she asked. 'I could kiss you right now,' Percy thought as he saw Harry deflate.

"Not in the slightest. Percy here was just reminding us that he's hit his head once too many times during quidditch," Harry answered.

Daphne was about to respond, but they were interrupted by a shout of excitement from Hermione. "SHHH!" Madam Pince was quick to rebuke.

Hermione blushed and said, "Sorry, Madam Pince." Madam Pince gave an indignant grunt in response.

"What was that shout about, 'Mione?" Harry turned to look at Hermione.

"I think I found something interesting. It says here, that 50 years ago, Slytherin's monster was unleashed upon the school. Rubeus Hagrid was blamed, though it says in this book here," she said picking up a book, "that only the heir of Slytherin could've opened his chamber."

"They must have made a mistake, then. Hagrid couldn't have opened the chamber! How is he not in Azkaban, though?" Percy said.

"Professor Dumbledore vouched for him. The headmaster sounds like a really great guy doesn't he?"

"I mean I suppose he's alright. I haven't actually talked to him much," Harry interjected.

"He probably had a motive. Nobody is that clean," Daphne said.

"How could you even say something like that about the headmaster? What has he done to you?" Hermione said with a defensive attitude.

"I've got it!" Harry yelled.

"MR. POTTER! IF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS CANNOT BE QUIET, YOU'LL HAVE TO LEAVE!" Madam Pince's voice carried through the air.

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly before turning his attention back to them. "So it has to be the heir of Slytherin right?"

The other three nodded in confirmation.

"Then that person will most likely be in Slytherin, right?"

"Not necessarily. I mean, just because they're the heir of Slytherin, doesn't mean that they have to have his traits," Percy reasoned.

"Well, they most likely have to be in Slytherin."

Percy and the others shrugged, with Percy replying, "I suppose so."

"Then it has to be Malfoy!"

Percy raised his eyebrow. "And what reason do you have for that?"

"Think about it. Malfoy's dad did it all those years ago, and now, Malfoy has told Draco to let loose the monster," Harry reasoned.

"Idiot, I'm pretty sure that Malfoy Sr. isn't 60 years old or up," Percy said, rolling his eyes.

Harry chuckled sheepishly. "Damn good point, Perce."

"I think we should go talk to Hagrid about this," Daphne said. "I agree with Daphne, Hagrid will tell us what's going on," Hermione said, and the four of them prepared to leave the library.

* * *

"Hello, Hagrid. Good day?" Harry asked as they walked up to the hut that housed Hagrid. "Hey, Harry. Who er yer friends?"

"This is Perseus Black, Hermione Granger and Daphne Greengrass. You don't mind if we come in, do you?"

"No not at all. Come on in and make yerselves at home."

Percy sat down on the couch beside Daphne and Hagrid's dog. Unfortunately, the dog apparently couldn't hold on to its saliva, as it salivated all over Percy's leg. Percy sighed. It was always something every single day.

"So…what can I help ya with?" Hagrid asked, closing the doors. "Hagrid, do you know what's attacking the school?"

"I s'pose I know 'bout as much as anybody," Hagrid replied.

"But you were the one who was blamed for the last attack," Hermione quickly countered, though Percy could tell that it was not the right thing to say.

Hagrid went rigid. "She didn't mean it like that, Hagrid," Percy intervened, trying to do damage control.

Hagrid seemed to calm down a bit. "How do ya know about tha', anyways?"

"Why don't you go ahead and tell us what happened?"

Hagrid sighed. "It's quite a story to tell," he said before diving into his tale. And it sure was. The four students left Hagrid's hut with their heads filled with new knowledge.

'Where have I heard the name Riddle before?' Percy pondered as they ran back to the common room. 'The inheritance test! I wonder if Tom Riddle is from that house.'

* * *

The days only seemed to get quicker and the days began to pass by quickly. To soon, the winter snows had gone away to reveal the lush vegetation that was reborn in the spring.

Percy and Daphne were sitting alone in the library. Both Hermione and Harry had full schedules for tonight, Harry with his dad and Hermione with her homework.

After their informative visit with Hagrid, the amount of time spent in the library by the quartet had diminished to near nonexistent. With the end of the year fast approaching, their teachers had really been laying the homework on thick.

Thus, they found themselves attempting to understand the mystery of Tom Riddle. "I haven't found a damn thing. Any luck on your end?" Percy said sighing dramatically.

Daphne giggled. "Finally! I thought you'd never curse, Mr. Goodytwoshoes." This caused laughter between the two. "Yeah, I think I've been spending a little to much time with Harry."

There was a cease in conversation as Percy thought he had found something. But it turned out to be nothing.

"So Percy, when is your birthday? You never told any of us," Daphne said interrupting his literary goose chase.

"It's Friday," he answered as if was unimportant.

"But that's in 3 days! Why didn't you tell us?"

"I don't know."

Daphne sighed. "If you had told me, I would've gotten you something."

"But it's the thought that counts right?" Percy said with a smile. "I suppose so," replied an unhappy Daphne.

This ended their conversation once again as the two went back to their reading. Percy was reading about supposedly important Slytherins that came from the Grindelwald era.

He wasn't really paying attention; he wasn't exactly thrilled with doing research after a long day of classes. But this didn't stop the bolded words, Tom Riddle, from catching his eye.

He was quick to begin reading the chapter of Tom Riddle. It was a generous amount of reading, though it had very little details.

"Daph, listen at this," Percy said, trying to keep his voice down as to not incur the wrath of the librarian. Daphne turned towards him, ready to listen.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle was born to the pureblood wizard Thomas Riddle and an unknown mother. He attended the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and graduated at the top of class. He was well known around the school for his impeccable manners and friendly attitude. He was never heard from after he began a trip around the world, and is assumed dead. He is a role model for all purebloods."

Daphne wore a look of contemplation as he finished. "It's not much, but at least it's something." Percy sighed. She was right of course. It was barely anything to go on at all.

"Considering that he's probably dead isn't helping our position either, is it?" "Not at all. This school year is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be," Daphne said sighing.

"I'm feeling the same," Percy said with an equal sigh.

They say for a few minutes contemplating the school year. Afterwards, Daphne looked down at her watch. "Merlin! We've only got 10 minutes before curfew."

They quickly packed up their stuff. "I'll walk you back," Percy offered. Daphne rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine, Perce."

Percy laughed sadly. "That's what Dean said too."

"Fine…"

"But I have to take you on a quick detour, first," Percy said. "And where would that detour lead to?" Percy smirked. "You'll find out."

* * *

"It's…beautiful," Daphne managed to say through her gasp. The detour had lead to the top of the astronomy tower.

Percy chuckled softly. "I know we see this every Saturday, but the stars just seem more pronounced tonight."

That was definitely true. She fell even more for him in her heart, despite them being so young. In her mind, this was like a first date.

Percy began naming some of the stars, and though she would nod and encourage him to continue, she was lost in her thoughts.

'Could this be what love feels like? Did mother and father feel this way when they first met?' Her thoughts seemed to answer themselves. 'Probably not. They were forced together by an arranged marriage, just like you probably will be.'

Daphne sighed. Her thoughts were completely true. That was just the way the wizarding world worked. You were married off to another pureblood, and most likely became a prize or a housewife.

Unbeknownst to Daphne, her sigh had been out loud. Percy was quick to ask, "Are you alright?" This jarred Daphne from her thoughts. "I'm just tired," she lied with a 'sleepy' smile.

"I'm sorry, Daph. I shouldn't have brought you up here," Percy said scratching the back of his head nervously.

"No, thank you it was great!" Daphne said sincerely.

"Well, I better get you back. Good thing I've got this thing now," he said holding up his map.

After a moment of contemplating the map, Percy spoke. "Hmmm…Filch is with Mrs. Norris in the hospital again…So we'll just have to watch out for the prefects."

"Alright, let's go," Percy said grabbing her hand. If he had looked at her face, he would have seen the deep red blush that had appeared on her usually emotionless face.

* * *

"_Knock, knock, knock!_" Lily Potter sighed. The last thing she needed was a visitor tonight. She still had plenty of papers to grade, and they sure weren't going to grade themselves.

This gave her an idea. 'Why have I never thought of this before? I can just charm the quills to grade for me!' A smile split her face. Maybe she would actually get some time to herself tonight.

Another round of knocking reminded her she had a visitor. She charmed the quills, before opening the door. She opened the door and gulped. She had been avoiding this moment from the beginning of the school year, and she had been hoping that it could wait till the summer.

"Professor Dumbledore," she managed to get out despite her quickly crumbling composure. "Hello, Professor Evans. May I come in?"

"Of course, Headmaster," she said opening the door wider and stepping out of the way for the aged man. "What can I help you with?" she asked.

"I believe you know what I want to know," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. She immediately felt as if it was best to tell him.

Lily sighed. "I found out on my 17th birthday. You probably don't remember, but I had to use your floo to get to Gringotts. They notified me of my lineage. Apparently, I am the daughter of Grindelwald. I didn't believe them at first; it was hard to understand."

Dumbledore's expression hadn't changed throughout the exchange so far. "So then I suppose you know of Grindelwald's escape in the 50's."

She nodded saying, "He escaped in 1957 right? And you took him back to Nuremberg?"

"That's correct," replied the Headmaster. "Though I didn't know that he had relations with anyone while he was here. Who was your mother?"

"Somehow it was Merope Gaunt," Lily replied, feeling a little more reluctant to give out answers.

"But she was well into her 40's by that point, wasn't she?" Dumbledore said calculating the odds of such a thing happening.

"It must have been a miracle then." Lily was getting more pissed off by the second. Why had she given away such information so willingly?

The headmaster seemed to not notice her change in tone. "So then Voldemort is your half-brother then?"

"WHAT?" Lily shouted jumping up. Dumbledore sighed. "You weren't meant to hear that."

Lily looked around frantically for her wand, but it was to late. "Obliviate!"

* * *

"Happy birthday, Perce!" Harry apparently thought that waking up a room full of kids at 5 o'clock in the morning was a good idea. It definitely wasn't. Just about everyone in the room chucked something at him, and he soon found himself dodging everything between pillows to soaps.

"Cowards, you didn't even hit me with the pillow right!" This started a pillow fight that lasted 45 minutes between the 75 bunk mates. Naturally, 75 yelling boys cause a pretty loud sound.

At the end of their fun, a knock was heard at the door. Percy opened the door, him being the closest. On the other side of the door were the Weasley twins.

They cleared their throats before raising their wands to the fore mentioned area. "Sonora Maxima," they said with barely a whisper. Realization hit Percy's mind immediately, and he barely had time to yell, "RUN!", before he was blasted back by a visible sound wave.

"WHY IN THE…"

"BLOODY HELL…"

"ARE YOU YELLING…"

"AT 5 IN THE MORNING!"

Percy, Harry, and about 20 of their roommates lay disoriented in the floor. The others were scattered about the room with dazed expressions.

"Bloody hell, Weasley! Your brothers nearly killed us!" Ryan McReynolds yelled from the other side of the room.

Weasley grumbled something about his brothers before picking himself off the floor and heading into the lavatories. "Thanks for helping us, Weasel!" Harry called after him.

Noticing it was already 6 o'clock, the rest of the Gryffindor boys headed to the showers.

* * *

The day went as usual, except for his mother being especially cold and his friends congratulating him for it being his birthday. Percy just didn't see at as anything special. His birth could've broken apart his best friend's dad and their mom.

Of course, the Dursleys had beaten him to the verge of death every year on his birthday, so that had taught him to expect pain every birthday. Today had been shaping up to be an extraordinarily good day.

No one was going to beat him here. He had friends here that actually like him! The Dursleys had made sure that everyone hated him. This had been one of his dreams, to be accepted by people.

He was brought out of his musings by fingers snapping in front of him. Harry looked at him concernedly. "You alright, Perce? You zoned out for a minute!"

Percy blinked. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"Good then. Let's hurry; I don't want to be out here any longer than I have to be." They had been in the library, searching for anything on how to connect Tom Riddle to the attacks, right up until curfew.

Their pace increased as the time crept closer to 9. Suddenly, Percy stopped. "_Kill, kill, kill_!"

The voice was back! One look at Harry told him, that it was not just him who was hearing things. As if reading each other's minds, both of them took off in the direction of the voice.

As they approached, the voice seemed to retreat in the other direction. Percy turned a corner, and tripped over a foreign object on the floor. He looked up to see Harry's wide, terrified eyes.

Percy slowly moved his eyes towards the object he tripped over, fearing it were something important. He gasped.

He understood Harry's reaction now. "Dad…" Percy said choking on a sob.

* * *

"The exams are today, Percy. You really should eat, you'll need the energy." Hermione said.

"I don't really feel hungry," he mumbled in response. He just hadn't felt like eating. The same thing had been happening since his father had been attacked on the night of his birthday, 9 weeks ago.

He picked at his food at every meal, so he was eating a bit. Hermione and Harry had been trying to force him to eat since that night, but Harry seemed to have given up.

"You don't really look well either. Those bags under your eyes look ghastly," Hermione commented. Percy had to suppress a groan. Of course he was sleeping very little. Nearly every time he closed his eyes, he got the same image. That of his father's lifeless eyes staring at him.

So he had taken to searching for answers to the problem at hand. He wasn't much closer to figuring out what the attacker was, but he had found some more things out about the House of Riddle.

He found very few things of importance and it was making him frustrated. Whoever this enemy was, it was good. He could find no evidence of any kind at any of the attack spots.

"Come on, Percy. It's time to go to Transfiguration," Harry said. Percy responded with a nod and followed his two friends to their classes.

The exams in themselves were easy, and Percy found that the answers came to him easily. The first day of testing ended tensely, and everybody had seemingly had a bad day if the somber mood in the great hall was anything to go by.

Even Quirrell had seemed stresses out today. Percy had noticed that he had seemed more aggressive, and his scar hurt even worse around him then before. As usual, Percy took no mind of it.

The second day of testing went much the same way, though Percy was surprised to find that his Muggle studies exam gave him trouble.

After 6th block, the castle got a bit chaotic. There were some intense parties in some of the common rooms, but Percy wasn't really feeling it and headed to the hospital.

He saw his father lying peacefully on the bed, just as he did every day. Percy sat and stared as usual. Percy sat like that, until his father's hand slid off the bed, simultaneously dropping a piece of paper and some glass.

Percy examined the objects from a distance before approaching cautiously. He picked up the paper and nearly cried out in joy. His father had done it; he had found the answer of the attacker. He was a little curious why his father blamed Quirrell, but Percy had faith in his old man.

Percy tore down the halls of Hogwarts, racing towards the Gryffindor common room. He arrived in record time. The portrait was already opened. A part of Percy's mind thought of how weird that was, but the rest was just telling him to go faster.

He tore into the room, drawing everyone's attention. Percy could now see why the portrait was open. The Potters were sitting in the corner looking upset, and his mother was crying. Dumbledore seemed to be trying to comfort them as well as Hermione.

As he walked over to them, a sense of foreboding washed over him. "What happened?" he asked cautiously. Harry was the one to answer. "The bastard took Victoria!"

* * *

**A/N- I know most of that first conversation seems annoying and pointless, but it will eventually have a point later in the series. Oh and that thing about Malfoy. I'm not certain because it has been a year or two since I've read or watched the Chamber of Secrets, but I'm pretty sure Ron says something like "Malfoy Sr. did it all those years ago and now his son has come back to finish his work." Like I said I'm not sure, and I don't have time to just go read all the way through CoS again so…**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N- Hey guys! I managed to get this chapter done much quicker than I first anticipated. So you'll get to see all my sad attempts at humor. (They really are kinda bad.) Anyways, last chapter of this story.**

* * *

**Chapter 11- End of Innocence**

_June 24, 1992_

"Are we seriously considering this? Shouldn't we let adults take care of this?" Percy didn't usually put so much faith in adults, but this seemed like a big deal.

"They're just going to give into Quirrell's demands, and cry as he doesn't hold up his end of the bargain!" Harry's angry magic was rolling off of him in waves, and Percy was afraid he might hurt someone.

"Look, Harry I understand where you're coming from…"

"Glad that we understand each other. Let's get going then," Harry said, leaving no room for argument. Percy sighed. 'Looks like we're going in without a plan.'

Percy followed him out the common room door into the hallways. "Harry, we don't even know where we're going."

"Actually," a voice said from behind him. "We know exactly where to go." Percy turned around to find Hermione smiling at them. She put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. "We'll get her back, Harry."

"With you guys by my side, I'm sure of it!" Percy couldn't help but go along with it. They had no plans, little knowledge of the enemy, and a years worth of magical knowledge, but they were going to thwart the plans of their DADA teacher.

"You guys do realize we're up against our DADA teacher, right? I'm sure he got his job for a reason."

"Percy, stop being a worrywart. Together, we can do anything we set our minds to!" Harry's enthusiasm was slowly wiping away Percy's negativism.

"Fine, but if you get us killed, you better not leave me alone with Myrtle!"

Harry laughed. "I'll take you up on that offer. Now Hermione, lead the way!"

The journey to the second floor lavatories was mostly a quiet affair. They needn't worry about the teachers, for they were having some kind of emergency staff meeting. No it was the possibility of the enemy's attack that kept them quiet.

The door to the girl's lavatories was slightly ajar when they arrived, and Harry signaled for the three to pull out their wands. They rushed the room, only to find it empty, with the exception of a stunningly beautiful blonde standing in the middle of the room.

"Daphne! What are you doing here?" Harry cried out.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "I knew you three would show up eventually, that's what Gryffindors do. And they also rush in without a plan, and then get caught with their pants down."

"Unfortunately, that is exactly what we were about to do. But you've got a plan, right?" Percy said hopefully.

"Actually…I don't." Daphne said, but seeing her friends suddenly down faces she quickly said, "But I raided Quirrell's office before I came here."

Harry looked suddenly excited. "Did you find anything?" Daphne sighed frustratedly. "No. It looks like the bastard is planning on staying away for a while."

"So I guess we're still going in without a plan, then?" Percy said, feeling that sense of foreboding hit him.

Harry smiled a huge grin. "When hasn't it ever worked?"

"Oh…only a few things come to mind: troll, late night sneaking…"

"Percy, sometimes I wonder how you got into Gryffindor. You're such a coward," Harry said smirking.

Percy narrowed his eyes. "You want to repeat that?"

"You are too much of a coward, to do anything."

Percy didn't take being called a coward well at all. Harry might as well have declared war on him. "Watch me!"

Percy could hear the snickers behind him as he walked around the room, looking for some secret opening. "I knew he would fall for that…"

"Um…so guys do we know where he went?" Percy asked. "I don't know. I had a look around while I waited for you guys, but…"

Daphne was cut off by a loud wail coming from one of the stalls. All 4 had their wands trained on that particular stall. "What the hell was that?" Harry asked.

'It sounds familiar…' Percy thought.

"Myrtle! Come out, I have something to ask you," Percy shouted when he had remembered the voice. She was out within seconds. "Have you decided to spend eternity with me?"

Percy saw Harry and Hermione holding in their laughter while Daphne just looked disgusted. "Um…well not necessarily. I wanted to know if you saw anybody come in here." Percy said, turning to her voice.

"Aww...But I'll get you too eventually. But yes I saw that professor that comes through here a lot carrying a girl." Myrtle replied high pitched voice and all.

"The man said some words I didn't understand, and a passage opened over there," Myrtle continued, while pointing at circular mirror pillar.

"Thank you so much, Myrtle," Percy said, already moving towards the mirrors. "Just remember I'll do anything for you, Percy."

Percy decided to ignore that last comment, and made his way over to the mirrors with everyone else. "What a nice girlfriend you have, Perce," Harry teased.

"Shove off, Potter. I know you want to make Hermione, Mrs. Potter!" The blush that encompassed both of their faces was missed by Percy.

"So…what words do you think he said?" Percy asked after checking the mirror for a minute.

"Well obviously, it would have to be something that no one would ever say," Hermione said thinking.

"Open Sesame?" Harry tried.

"Of course it's not going to be open sesame, idiot!" Percy laughed. "Am I right, Daph?"

Percy turned to see Daphne's face in shock. "Daphne?"

She looked at him wide eyed. "You two just started hissing at each other! What the hell kind of language was that?"

Percy and Harry gave each other confused glances. "Are you feeling okay, Daph?"

"She's right. You really did start hissing like snakes just a moment ago. Surely you noticed?" Hermione intervened.

The 4 of them concluded that it was probably some magical language after a moment of thought. "Wait, Slytherin could talk to snakes right?"

"Well then it could be the snake language! We must be related to Slytherin through our mom!" Harry reasoned.

"That actually…makes perfect sense, Harry. That would explain the basilisk and how Quirrell is controlling it!" Percy said.

"Yea! Alright let's try to say open in…"

"Hold up you two," Daphne said. The two of them turned around to meet her eyes. "What did you say about a basilisk, Percy?"

"I said that, that must be how Quirrell is controlling the basilisk," Percy replied.

"A BASILISK!" Harry screamed with a horrified expression. "Um…Is there something wrong with basilisks or something?" Percy asked confused.

"Basilisks are humongous snakes! Some that have been found were over 60 feet! It saw it in a book I picked up at the library for some light reading," Hermione recounted.

"Well we've made it this far. Snakes aren't that bad. So why are we still standing this discussing this?" Percy said unfazed.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Percy is right. All we have to do is keep Quirrell busy while we grab my sis and get out of there," Harry said, his confidence coming back.

Harry turned to the mirror. "_Open!_" he commanded in the snake language. To everyone's surprise, the passageway opened. "Talk about simple," Harry said.

"So…who's going first?" Harry asked nervously. "How about we play rock, paper, scissors for it?" "Screw that," Daphne said and pushed him into the opening. She dived in after him.

"Ladies first, right?" Percy chuckled sheepishly. "Boys," Hermione said shaking her head. Percy followed her into the hole, and soon found himself sliding down a slide. 'What an original way for a grown man to get to his hideout,' Percy thought.

Percy landed at the bottom after a minute on the slide. The others were already waiting. "Well, there goes our plan of getting back up," Harry said pessimistically.

"We'll figure something out when the time comes. For now, let's just think of what's happening right now," Hermione suggested.

Percy took a look around. There were a few skeletons scattered about, as well as a massive skin that could only be snake skin. "What a...pleasant environment," Harry noted. There was only one door out of the room, and the quartet made their way cautiously over to it.

"Wands at the ready," Harry ordered. Although it was for not, as all four already had their wands at hand.

When Harry opened the door, it creaked, causing the four students to cringe. There was enough room in the next room for them to walk two abreast, so Harry and Percy took point.

The walkway wasn't much to look at. There were several spider webs hanging about, and the walls had cracks in them as if they hadn't been cleaned in centuries.

When they reached the end of the hallway, which was several hundred feet, they saw two statues standing beside the door.

"Should we interact with them, or not?" Harry whispered to the tightly clustered group. "Let's just try to walk past and see what happens," Daphne answered. They four of them walked closer and closer to the door, it seemed like the statues were exactly what they were, statues.

This was not to be. As soon as Harry's foot reached within 5 feet of the statues, they seemingly came to life. They picked up their swords and charged the pseudo-teens.

Percy watched as Harry barely dodged a slice towards his head. He turned just in time to dodge a stab in the place he had been milliseconds before. Behind him, he heard Daphne call out, "Bombarda!"

Sadly, the spell did little damage to the charging statues, and the group was forced to backpedal to avoid being sliced and diced like tomatoes. Percy's brain was barely able to function with everything happening, and he had yet to cast a spell.

Around him his friends were casting a mixture of Incendios, Bombardas, and Reductos at the statues, to little avail. The Reductos were doing little more than causing cracks, but they weren't ever going to destroy them this way.

Percy quietly looked around at his surroundings, whilst dodging slashes and stabs coming in his direction. 'A wall on each side, nothing to the rear, and enemies to the front. Just our luck…'

Percy had to duck as another slash almost decapitated him. By this point, they were halfway back in the hallway. 'But what am I forgetting? The ceiling of course!' The ceiling was at least 40 feet high.

Percy moved his wand in the shape of an arrow, and said, "Reducto!", when his wand was positioned towards the ceiling. Upon impact, huge chunks of rock fell directly on top of the incoming statues. The result was a pile of rocks where the statues had stood moments ago.

"Are they dead?" Daphne asked, panting heavily. "I sure as hell hope so, cause if not, we might as well kill ourselves right here," Harry answered. "And good thinking there, Perce. That little bugger would have got me if it wasn't for your excellent timing."

"Anytime," Percy said smiling. "Now, I believe the saying is, "ladies first" right?" Percy said motioning for the girls to go in front. "In your dreams, Black. Now get going!" Daphne said with a smirk.

Percy and Harry took their spots in the front. "Well, I know one thing for sure, Perce."

"What's that?"

"This place was obviously meant to keep others out. I just hope we can actually do this," Harry replied a bit sheepishly.

"But we aren't like most others, are we?" Percy asked with a glint in his eye.

"You're right about that!"

* * *

Past the doors that the statues were guarding, was a long set of stairs going downwards. It had taken only minutes for Harry's comical whining to begin.

"Merlin, this Slytherin guy was seriously paranoid if this is what he had to get through just to get to his office!"

This was quickly followed by, "So…how long have we been walking?" A watch check showed that they had only been down here for 20 minutes.

"Are we almost there yet?"

"Harry, shut the hell up! I'm tired of your complaining!" Daphne raged.

"But it feels like we've been walking for hours!"

"Shhh!" Percy said stopping.

"Percy, don't tell me…" Harry started, but was stopped by Percy's hand covering his mouth.

"That buzzing noise…" Percy said straining to listen.

"It sounds almost like bees," Hermione agreed.

"I think it's coming from behind that door over there," Percy said, pointing to a door about 60 feet downwards from their position, and simultaneously letting Harry go.

They cautiously made their way towards the door. "Wands out," Harry whispered as they approached.

"Harry, if you say that one more time, I'm going to shove my wand so far up your arse that you'll be…" Daphne said, apparently doing all she could to piss of Harry.

"Guys, we don't have time for this right now," Percy interrupted. Hermione, who had been almost completely quiet this whole time, agreed with Percy. "You two can talk things out once we get Victoria back."

Percy opened the door to find a room full of flying keys. "What the fu…" _Slap! _"Owww! What was that for Hermione?"

"You shouldn't say that word! Plus, I'm getting tired of your cursing," Hermione said with a smug look.

"Guys, try to focus. We're on a mission here, not dawdling by the lake," Percy said. The room was rather small, about 20 feet across and 15 feet wide. There was another door on the other side of the room.

"So, it looks like one of these keys opens that door. And how convenient is it, that there's just a broom in the corner. Anybody want to figure out how to get past this?" Percy said after noting the room.

"Harry," Percy said slapping him on the shoulder. "You're up!"

Harry gave him a huge smile, before mounting the broom. Harry handed his glasses over to him. "Shit's about to get real."

"Does he even know which key to go after?" Daphne asked. "Not a clue," Percy said with a smile. "I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually."

Suddenly, the keys bussing increased tenfold, akin to a motorcyclist revving his engine. "Um guys? This one's gold while the others are silver so…"

"Harry, just fly down slowly and don't make sudden movements," Hermione called worriedly.

"NAH! I'll be…Ahhh!" Harry's booming voice had antagonized the keys into chasing him around the room. The sight would've been hilarious if not for the danger involved.

Harry rocketed straight at the door, still going at least 30 mph/48 kph. Percy was sure was he was going to crash, but somehow Harry managed to slow down enough to throw the key into the keyhole and turn it at the same time.

Not thinking of Harry's amazing move with the key, the others jumped through the door after him, with Percy just managing to kick the door shut. The unmistakeable sound of something sharp hitting wood was heard on the other side. "To close!" Harry said panting.

"Amen to that, Harry," Percy laughed.

* * *

The next part to their adventure took them through a dark chamber. They could barely see, and there weren't many more places on their bodies that could be bruised.

All in all, the journey getting pretty miserable. But they marched on, despite the odds against them. After walking for about 5 minutes they came upon another door. "After every door, there's been some sort of challenge so I'm sure this one will be no different," Hermione said as they paused in front of the door.

"Wands at the ready, then!" Harry said as if to intimidate Daphne. Amazingly, all she did was nod. 'Finally, somebody understands!' Percy thought.

This time it was Hermione who opened the door. They charged in expecting a fight. "Is this it?" Harry asked. Percy would have asked the same question if Harry hadn't beat him to it.

The room was completely empty. There was just a door on the opposite side of the room. But Percy knew better. After all the challenges they had just went through, and there just be an empty chamber.

"Well, we don't have all day," Harry said as he walked forward.

"Harry, wait!" Percy, Hermione, and Daphne called out simultaneously. He reached the middle of the room. He turned around and asked, "What?"

His eyes suddenly went wide.

Percy was about to ask about the change in attitude, when he noticed that his feet were getting a bit warm. He looked down to see his shoes completely on fire, with it moving quickly up his leg.

"Ahhhs!" from the girls signified that he was not the only one with this problem. He was trying to put the flames out some way, but the sweater he was wearing caught on fire. Percy was starting to panic.

"Harry, you shithead! Put that wand to use and use Aguamenti!" Daphne yelled in a frantic manner. Harry was quick to cast the spell on Daphne, but unfortunately it only accelerated the fire.

It was only at this point that Harry noticed a table with potions that was behind him. Percy had been trying to point at it, but it had been to no avail.

"Do they have potions that stop fires?" Harry asked noticing the vials.

"Yes, it's the one on the far left!" Hermione said, apparently not even letting the fire get to her. Percy was having the exact opposite reaction. The fire was singing what little hair he had on his legs by this point.

"Are you sure that's the right…" Harry asked.

"HARRY!" Hermione yelled. Apparently, she didn't have nerves of steel.

"Alright, alright. Don't get your knickers in a twist," Harry mumbled loud enough to hear. He grabbed the vial and poured a little down each of their throats. Almost immediately, the fire died off.

Percy's entire outfit was ruined. His shoes only had the soles left, and his socks were completely gone. The fire had eaten his pants to the point that they could pass as shorts. His right sleeve was completely gone.

"How did a potion kill that fire?" Percy asked Hermione.

"It couldn't have been real fire. I don't really know how it works, I just read about it in the library earlier this year," Hermione replied.

"When all else fails, ask Hermione," Harry said, with a proud smile on his face. Hermione flushed a red darker than a Weasley's hair.

"Come on guys. I think we're close," Percy said. It was just a feeling, but Percy trusted his gut instinct.

* * *

On the other side of the door, the path continued on for a ways, before it split in two. Nobody wanted to split up, but they were forced to. Harry and Hermione to take the left path. Percy and Daphne took the right path.

Percy was exhausted. The journey had already taken a lot out of him. How long could the adrenaline keep him going?

The path was old. To Percy, it reminded him exactly of Gringotts. The moss grew heavily on the walls.

A massive circular door, looking much like a vault, stood just a few feet away. A chill passed through Percy. This meant they were close. Whatever was on the other side of that door, was not a friend.

Percy gulped. He looked at his companion. Daphne seemed to be panicking. He grabbed her hand, hoping it would pass as a comforting gesture. Apparently, it did, and Daphne looked up at him gratefully.

"Well, it's now or never," Percy said nervously.

"I'm scared, Perce," Daphne said tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you." Percy caressed her cheek with his other hand. "Let's do this!" He turned to the door and said in Parseltongue, "_Open!_"

* * *

Harry watched as the other two walked out of sight. "We better get going too," Harry suggested.

The path was dark and eery. The path didn't look as old as Gringotts older passageways, but it was definitely from around that time.

It was obvious that Hermione was terribly scared by they way that she lightly trembled. Harry put his arm around her. "We can do this," he said optimistically. In spite of the situation, she smiled.

"If Quirrell is on the other side of this door, I'm going to put my foot so far up his ass…"

"Not a good time, Harry. You can boast later," Hermione said.

"Let's do this then!" he shouted as he kicked down the door.

* * *

Percy's vision was filled with pale green scales. He instantly thought of the information his father had gathered. '_Glowing, Yellow eyes will be the last thing you see. If you look into a basilisk's eyes, you will die. Even if you see a reflection of its eyes, you will be petrified.'_

Percy was quick to close his eyes. He whispered for Daphne to do the same, and could only hope that she heard him.

Percy wasn't really sure what to do at this point. He could hear and feel the movement of giant snake, and it was moving right towards them. Percy felt along the wall with his free hand, his other one still being grasped tightly by Daphne.

Percy was getting seriously scared now. The basilisk was sure to have multiple other ways to kill them without its eyes. "Daphne, when I say run follow me to the left," Percy said in a voice that could barely count as he whisper. Nonetheless, he felt her head nod to the affirmative.

He heard something that sounded like a low hiss. His mind seemed to translate the hiss to him. "_The meat of a child is so much softer than adult meat!_"

Percy was quick to move at that point, neither he nor Daphne was going to die in here if he could do something about it. But fighting an enemy without being able to see…

Percy and Daphne ran around the edge of the room, with Percy using his hand to direct them. It seemed like the basilisk was only teasing them at this point.

A screech from above drew Percy's attention, and he opened his eyes despite the danger. Some type of bird was descending on them. From this distance, it looked as if it was orange, with flames encompassing its body. Could it be a phoenix?

It dived to where the basilisk most likely was, and a roar of pain was heard as it struck the beast. Percy could only hope that it was the basilisk's eyes that were attacked, as he looked at the giant snake on impulse.

Fortunately, the phoenix had indeed gauged out its eyes. Blood seeped out of the basilisk's now empty eye sockets. It roared once again in pain, but didn't make any moves. 'It's awfully sluggish to be such a feared creature,' Percy thought. 'Not that I'm complaining."

With the threat of being paralyzed or worse, killed, at least by the basilisk's eyes gone, Percy was able to take a look at his surroundings. It was basically a massive underground coliseum. The place was about the size of the great hall.

"Daphne, you can look now," Percy said. It wasn't the best thing to do, considering that he had said it rather loud. The basilisk reared back, and Percy realized what it was doing a second too late.

Just as the snake lunged, a weight hit him and they went rolling for a few feet. Percy jumped up quickly, and realized that it had been Daphne who had saved him. "Thanks, Daph," he panted.

"Don't mention it. But I doubt I can do it again, so move!" Daphne ended with a shout. Once again she had perfect time as the beast lunged at them again.

Percy could definitely count this as one of the worst moments in his short life. He didn't have the time to jump to the side, so he did the only logical thing considering his options. At least it would distract the basilisk for a minute.

He jumped on its head. Unfortunately, he rolled his ankle and rolled a ways down the basilisks back.

The basilisk seemed to look at his current situation and turned towards Daphne. 'So much for distracting it.'

Percy went to pull out his wand, but realized that it lay discarded on the floor after the basilisk's first lunge. He could do nothing but watch the basilisk lunged for Daphne once again. She managed to evade its teeth, but the force of the hit surely broke her leg.

She cried out in an agonized scream. And that pissed Percy off. As the anger clouded his judgement, he soon found himself jumping off the basilisk walking to face it. He was interrupted by the phoenix from earlier, who dropped down beside him with the sorting hat in tow.

He picked up the hat, and held it like a magician would. He reached inside off it; he didn't really know what he was doing, but the phoenix seemed to be encouraging him. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, surely not something as useless as a rabbit, but he sure as hell wasn't expecting a sword.

He had never wielded a sword before, but he had seen movies and he tried to hold the sword like he had seen on there.

The basilisk was facing him now, already rearing back to strike. Percy was pretty sure that he wasn't going to make it out of this alive. Him with a 3 feet long sword against a 60 foot long snake. But one look at Daphne made sure that he was going to try his damn best.

The beast lunged first and Percy jumped back. Almost as soon as the snake's head occupied the space he had been moments ago, he charged in and swiped at the basilisk's head. To his surprise, the basilisk's skin repelled the blow. 'How could I be so stupid? Nothing can break through a basilisk's hide.'

Percy jumped back quickly, barely missing the basilisk's teeth. This went on for a minute before Percy found the perfect opportunity to do some damage. 'The sword might just pierce through the basilisk's mouth! It's worth a shot at this point…'

Percy charged like before, and stabbed straight through the roof of the basilisk's mouth. He would have screamed in triumph at his success, but his arm exploded in pain.

Nothing could describe the agony he was feeling right now. He was certain his bloodcurdling screams could be heard all the way in the Gryffindor common room.

The pain was overpowering his senses, but he thought he saw the basilisk's body go limp. He thought he could see Daphne beside him through his peripheral vision trying to comfort him.

"Percy, it's alright…" he managed to make out through his screams. This was how he managed to get a hold of himself. He put a stop to his screams, though they were replaced by a whimper.

"Percy…" Daphne was crying torrents now. "You-you've been bitten. I think the ve-ve-venom is already in your veins."

He understood. It was over. He knew what basilisk venom did to you through his research. It would be a terribly painful death, but hopefully a quick one.

His morbid thoughts were quickly shattered by a small explosion on the other side of the room.

* * *

"Victoria! Move!" Fortunately, despite her current state she managed to drop to the ground as a Reducto flew over her head. Harry sighed in relief. This fight was, to put it simply, not going well.

Hermione and he had walked into this room, which looked much like a coliseum, straight into Quirrell's trap. Though it wasn't exactly Quirrell. In fact, Harry's opponent wasn't anybody he thought he would ever meet again, Lord Voldemort.

When Quirrell had drank the elixir of life, which he had made from some stone he had pulled out of his pocket and melted, Harry truly thought Quirrell had gone mad. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Quirrell had fallen to the ground unconscious, and a black wisp of smoke had come from the back of his head. The smoke soon came into the form of a man. As the man's features began to show, it became clear how inhuman it looked. If anything, it looked closer to a snake.

Once Voldemort had formed and revealed who he was, as well as his grand master plan, spells began to be exchanged. It became painfully apparent that despite Voldemort having just been reformed, he was still more than capable of taking on two first years.

The one-sided battle became deadlier, and Victoria was still dazed. This is going to last much longer. Reality seemed to read his thoughts.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry by some miracle managed to dodge the killing curse but his luck ran out as he jumped right into the incoming Expulso.

All he felt was the force of the spell, at least until he impacted the wall. Being pushed through 3 feet of rock wall, definitely counted as his most painful experience in his life.

* * *

Percy looked up to see Harry flying through the air. He landed with a sickening crunch. A few moments later, Hermione and Victoria were flung through the air as well, though their landings were much softer.

A figure appeared through the hole in the wall. "This is a waste of my abilities. Mere school children can't even faze me!" The voice was snake-like, with an emphasis on the s's.

"This is the great Harry Potter? The one who defeated me all those years ago? You're even more pathetic than your mother," the snake-like man said with a smirk.

'I think I've still got a minute or two. Hell, maybe I can even take this bastard with me…'

The figure was still laughing and not really paying attention. Percy grabbed the basilisk tooth that had been imbedded in his skin, and yanked it free with a grunt.

He chucked at the laughing maniac. "Hey bastard! Open wide!" Percy yelled. The figure tried to dodge, but it was much too late, the tooth stabbed him right in the stomach.

"That's how the Blacks do it," Percy said weakly. The man doubled over in obvious pain. Percy knew what he was going through now. The man yelled out in pain, and the walls began to shake violently.

The man's body seemed to dissolve before a wisp of black smoke shot out of him into the air.

It was at this point that the walls started crumbling. "Percy…" Daphne was sobbing again. Percy smiled. "At least I took that bastard with me."

Hermione, Harry, and Victoria were at his side within moments. "When my dad wakes up, tell him that I loved him and that I thank him for being the first person in my life to show me love," Percy said, he was crying now, and the pain was double that what he felt in the beginning.

"We won't forget you, Perce," Harry said. Tears were streaming down his face as much as the females.

"Bye, guys." The pain became too much for Percy and he passed out. The others grabbed on to the phoenix's tail feathers and flew off, though none of them realized it through their physical and emotional wounds.

None of them saw the phoenix cry into the wound caused by the basilisk on Percy's arm.

* * *

**A/N- Not the greatest chapter anyone has ever done at all. I had lots of trouble with the basilisk fight, but I hope it's at least believable. I'll try to start the next fic of the series tomorrow. See ya!**


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